Shadows In The Night
by KittiKat626
Summary: [IchiRuki] Rukia's pregnant. The only problem is, the pregnancy is banned by the Soul Society. Now, in order to save Rukia and his child, Ichigo is forced to hide them, running away from everything he's ever known and loved. SEQUEL: Whispers In Your Heart
1. Shadows In The Night

**Name:** Shadows In The Night  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Genre:** Romance/Angst/Drama/Action/Adventure  
**Pairings:** Rukia/Ichigo  
**Summary:** Rukia is pregnant. The only problem is, this pregnancy is banned by the Soul Society. Now, in order to save Rukia and his child, Ichigo is forced to hide them, running away from everything he's ever known and loved.**  
**  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — I**

Ichigo woke to retching sounds coming from his bathroom. Sighing sleepily, he pulled himself from his warm bed and walked, barefoot, across the freezing January floor to the bathroom door, which he nudged open with his elbow. He saw Rukia sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, having just finished throwing up any traces of everything she had eaten in the last twenty-four hours. She was shivering badly, and her teeth were chattering. Her two piece Bunny pajamas hung loosely around her small frame as she gasped for breath.

"Hey, you OK?" Ichigo asked, leaning down beside her and placing his hand on her shoulder. She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself and clenching her teeth hard in attempt to stop their chattering.

"Let's get you back to bed," Ichigo said, helping her to her feet. She leaned heavily on him as he led her out of the bathroom, flushing the toilet and turning out the light on the way out of the bedroom.

"I-Ichigo, I d-don't . . ."

But before she could finished her sentence, she leaned over and threw up all over the floor. Ichigo, rather than being annoyed like he was when she usually did something like this, was concerned. Sure, Rukia had been sick several times in the time she had spent in the living world, but never this bad.

"Rukia, you should see my dad," Ichigo said, bending down beside her on the floor. She just nodded, leaning her head against his chest, breathing deeply. Ichigo felt her forehead, which wasn't even slightly warm. Which made him worry more. He seemed to worry a lot more than usual since they had started going out fourteen months ago. Needless to say, their relationship had expanded further than just dating, which didn't please several people.

Ten minutes later, after helping Rukia into a loose shirt and sweatpants of his own, as all her pajamas were dirty, Ichigo walked downstairs to see his little sisters, now fourteen, sitting at the kitchen table. _(A/N: Them being 14 makes Ichigo 19)_

"Morning, Ichigo!" Yuzu said happily, waving her cooking spoon around.

"Morning, Yuzu. Do you know where dad is?" Ichigo asked, picking up a piece of toast and chewing on it.

"Yeah, he's in the living room. Where's Rukia this morning?"

"Um ... she's not feeling well," Ichigo answered simply, walking into the living room to find his dad sitting on the couch. "Dad? Rukia's sick, could you take a look at her?"

In the three years since Ichigo had first met Rukia, much had changed. After getting back from the Soul Society, Rukia and Ichigo had decided it wasn't healthy for Rukia to be living in his closet. So they had decided to just tell Yuzu what he and Rukia were: Shinigami. They only had to tell Yuzu, because Karin already knew, and as it turned out, his dad did, too. Everyone took it better than expected. Yuzu was surprised, and showed it, Karin was surprised that they were actually telling her, and his dad . . . well, he was the same as always.

"Sick?" Isshin asked, turning around.

"Uh, yeah. She's throwing up, but she doesn't seem to have a fever. I'm a little worried, because she can't even walk in a straight line," Ichigo said, running a hand through his hair.

"OK, let's go take a look," Isshin said, pulling himself from his position on the couch. He followed the anxious Ichigo up the stairs and into the room that Rukia and Ichigo shared. Everyone had decided it would be better than Yuzu, Karin _and_ Rukia sharing. Seeing as how Ichigo and his father had to work for hours just to get _two_ beds into the room. Three just wasn't going to happen. It also made sense since Rukia and Ichigo were . . . Involved.

Ichigo opened the door to his room and walked inside, leading his dad over to his bed, which Rukia was laying on because her own bed had become the victim of nausea.

Rukia was curled into a tiny ball, Ichigo's blankets pulled tightly around her. She was sleeping, her black hair half-covering her face. Ichigo walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching over and shaking her gently. She opened her eyes and looked around, closing them again quickly against the light.

"My dad's going to take a look at you. You just have to be awake for a few minutes, then you can go back to sleep," Ichigo promised, helping her sit up against his pillows. Isshin smiled and walked over, sitting beside Ichigo and Rukia.

"What are your symptoms?" he asked gently, pulling out a thermometer from his coat pocket. He walked into Ichigo's bathroom and rinsed it with alcohal before sticking it in Rukia's mouth. She talked around it.

"Nausea, h-headache, and I'm s-so tired," Rukia said, shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself. Ichigo pulled the extra blanket from the floor of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, rubbing her arm in attempt to warm her.

The thermometer beeped and Isshin took it from her mouth.

"Well, you don't have a fever. Rukia, would you mind if I took some blood to run a few tests on?"

Rukia shook her head. Isshin nodded and walked out of the room to get the stuff he would need, saying he would be right back.

Ichigo turned to Rukia.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, not really expecting a positive answer. Rukia shook her head and leaned back into Ichigo's chest, burying her face in the crook of his arm.

Five minutes later, Isshin was back and ready to take a blood sample. Rukia hated needles, as Ichigo had found out when she needed a shot after stepping on a rusty nail. He held her hand as his father took the blood he would need. Isshin then slipped the needle from her skin, pressing a cotten ball to the wound. He had Ichigo hold it in place while he put a band aid over it.

"Ichigo, let her sleep for now. I'm gonna go run those tests. Also, you need to call the school and tell them that Rukia won't be in today, and you . . ." Isshin cut himself off, looking questioningly at his son. Ichigo shook his head.

"I want to stay here," he said.

"OK. Well, I should be done in a few hours."

Ichigo nodded. His dad left the room.

"You should sleep now," Ichigo said, helping Rukia lay back down. She nodded, leaning back into the thick pillows with a happy sigh.

Ichigo walked out of the room and down the stairs to phone the school. Yuzu and Karin had already left on their bus. Ichigo was glad it was his last year. He would have finished a year ago, but a whole two hundred and ninety-nine days in the Soul Society helping with some Hollow/Shinigami war had totally wrecked his school life. So now, he was forced into school an extra year.

Bummer.

* * *

Two hours later, Isshin walked into the living room to find it empty. Looking for Ichigo, he began roaming the house, and finally found him in his room, sitting at Rukia's side. She was awake, and they were talking in low voices.

"Ichigo, can I have a word?" Isshin asked, breaking into their conversation. Ichigo nodded and stood up, walking out into the hall with his dad.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked, worried. "It's nothing serious, right?"

"Depends."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you talking life-altering serious, or life and death serious?"

"Uh . . ."

"Never mind," his dad said. He looked Ichigo in the eye. And Ichigo made a mental note to figure out why his dad looked to serious. He hadn't looked that way since the day that Ichigo had told him about his and Rukia's being Shinigami. "Ichigo, this is serious!"

"That was what I was asking!" Ichigo said. He reached behind him and pulled his door closed, then turned back to his dad.

"No, Ichigo, this is more than serious." Isshin ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply.

"What. Is. It?" Ichigo asked sternly. He was worried. What if Rukia was going to die or something?

"Rukia's . . ."

Ichigo growled as his dad stopped talking.

"Rukia's pregnant."

Ichigo didn't speak. He just stood there with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Y-you _are_ kidding, right?" Ichigo said, finally finding his voice. But he already knew from the look on his dad's face that he was dead serious.

"Ichigo, why didn't you use protection?" Isshin asked. "This is going to change your lives, you do know this right? This is big. No, _huge_. This isn't something that's going to go away overnight. This will change your _whole_ life."

"I know, dad. Believe me, I know," Ichigo said, running a hand through his hair. He was beyond words. _Pregnant?_ But how? They _had _used protection. There was no logical reason that it should have been happening! He could fight Hollows, he could train under a manic man that wore sandals that could have been used for boat docks, and he could face a Shinigami Captain, but a baby? How the hell was he going to pull that one off?

His more logical side, which rarely showed itself, began to shine through.

"First, I should tell Rukia. We'll go from there," Ichigo said, breathing in deeply. He looked at his father. "Um . . . Can I do it alone?"

"Sure. I'll be back in twenty minutes. I expect you to have told her by then. If you haven't, I will. Then I want some answers, clear?"

Ichigo nodded numbly and walked back inside his room. He found Rukia sitting in the bed, the window open and her head stuck out of it. The gentle wind was blowing her hair all around.

"Rukia?" Ichigo said softly, trying not to startle her too much. She turned around, her eyes wide for a second. She then relaxed.

"Ichigo, what did your dad say?" Rukia asked, concern showing clearly in her eyes.

"W-well . . ." Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and walked over to the bed, sitting down beside Rukia. She turned around to face him, her knees coming up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them, looking at Ichigo expectantly.

He figured it would be best to just say it. Putting it off wasn't going to help at all.

"Rukia, you're pregnant."

Rukia looked shocked. Her eyes grew wide and her voice was shaky.

"B-but . . . n-no, it can't be . . ."

Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder. What if she decided she didn't want the baby? If that was what Rukia truly wanted, he couldn't do anything to stop her. She knew about abortion; she had been in the living world long enough to learn that. He looked down at the floor, his eyes going misty. He had only known about the baby for five minutes, but he already felt that, if Rukia were to . . .

_No_, he told himself, _he couldn't think like that_. Not until he knew for sure what Rukia wanted.

"You don't want the baby, huh?" Ichigo asked, not meeting her eyes, for his own were beginning to fill with tears.

"I-it's not that I don't want it . . . It's . . . " Rukia stopped talking, her own eyes falling to the floor. Taking a deep breath, she gathered all of her courage to speak. "The Soul Society won't allow it. A Shinigami and a human having a child together, that is."

"Why the hell not?" Ichigo yelled.

"Because the baby's power would be uncontrollable. The power of a Shinigami and the power of a human with high spiritual awareness, and a baby being born between the two is unthinkable. There would be no limit to the child's power," Rukia explained, her own tears showing now.

"Well, to heck with them. Rukia, look at me," Ichigo said firmly, reaching a hand out. He gently lifted Rukia's face so his eyes met her own. "Do you want this baby?"

Rukia didn't answer at first. Tears continued to roll unnoticed down her face. Finally, she answered with a small nod.

"Then we'll run away. Together. We'll go somewhere where they can't find us," Ichigo said, his eyes backing the confidence in his voice.

"But Ichigo, they w-will find us," Rukia said, her tears falling faster.

"Then I will fight them. No one will take this baby from us, understand?"

Ichigo didn't know where the confidence was coming from. He didn't understand the burning fire in his heart to protect the baby. His heart was telling him he would do anything for it, while his head was telling him there would be no way he could. His heart was telling him he could, but his head was telling him he _shouldn't.  
_  
"But Ichigo-" Rukia started. She looked into his eyes, and the strength of his resolve almost scared her.

"No, Rukia. Listen, I love you, and I will do anything for you and our baby. If that means we have to run, so be it. I won't just sit back and let them kill our baby."

Rukia nodded, looking back down at the bed she was sitting on. Ichigo lifted her face once again, but this time he kissed her gently, smiling when he pulled back. Rukia wiped her tears away.

"We have to go now. If I'm pregnant, then I think I'm probably about two months in. The Soul Society will start picking up the life force of the baby soon. They can sense it like I can sense you," Rukia said, standing to her feet. Ichigo stood with her. "Ichigo, you'll have to change into a Shinigami."

"My dad is going to be back in about five minutes. Do we need to grab anything before we go?" Ichigo asked, picking Rukia up in his arms after turning into a Shinigami. "And what do I do about my body?"

"Your father will know what happened. He'll take care of it. And no, we will not need anything. We just need to go _now_."

Ichigo nodded and jumped out of the window.

"I need to contact Renji. He'll be able to help us. He'll also know where we can hide out for a while," Rukia said. Ichigo nodded.

"How do we contact him?"

"When we were children, we were the only ones with spiritual power, so we made a way to tell if the other was in trouble. If he feels a strong blast of my spiritual power, he should know something is wrong. I just hope he remembers it after all this time."

Ichigo watched as Rukia closed her eyes. She was a lot better at controlling her spiritual power than him, and could it without a second thought. But she would be releasing a large amount of power, so it would be harder than normal. After a few seconds, she smiled up at Ichigo and nodded.

"Where do we go until he finds us?" Ichigo asked, still running.

"I'm sure Urahara would let us stay with him for a bit," Rukia replied.

"Wouldn't that be the first place they look for us, though?" Ichigo asked, altering his course.

"Renji will come soon," Rukia whispered confidently, burying her face in Ichigo's chest. He nodded and began the short journey to the Urahara Shop. Yoruichi would probably be there, too, as well as Jinta and Ururu.

* * *

Ichigo stopped ten minutes later. He was standing outside Urahara's shop, a now sleeping Rukia in his arms. He rapped on the door a couple times with his fist, trying to work around the obstacle in his arms.

Urahara walked to the door. Ichigo was surprised that Jinta and Ururu weren't outside cleaning, but he didn't comment.

"We need somewhere to stay for a day or so," Ichigo said. "Can we come in quickly? No one can see us." Ichigo looked around nervously as he said this.

"Come on in. Then, you can tell me what's going on."

Urahara led them inside. He was in one of his serious moods, which Ichigo didn't see too often. at all..

Soon, Rukia was settled onto a big blanket, still sleeping, while Ichigo was offered coffee. Then, the questioning began.

"Rukia's pregnant," Ichigo replied simply, hoping Urahara knew the reasons why this would cause problems, because he didn't remember everything Rukia had told him.

"That's not good. Rukia told you what would happen?" Urahara asked, even more serious now.

"Yeah, she did. Renji will hopefully be here soon. Rukia contacted him. Maybe he can help us," Ichigo said, taking a deep drink of the coffee.

"How long have you known?" Urahara asked, not even glancing at his own mug.

"Just today. Rukia was really sick this morning, so I asked my dad to look at her. No one even knows we are gone. I have another question, too. Rukia was a little too sick this morning for it to just be morning sickness. Could it have something to do with the baby's spiritual strength?"

"Could be, unless she just caught a cold or something. Ichigo, you know the Soul Society won't just let this go when the child is born, right?" Urahara asked, concern in his eyes.

"Would they really kill the baby if they knew?"

"Yes. That or let Rukia go through the pregnancy in jail, then runs tests on the baby."

This thought looked like it bothered Urahara more than it would normally. Ichigo saw pain in his eyes as he spoke the words.

"Did they . . . did they ever do something to you?" Ichigo asked, not sure if he should have.

"Not to me, no. But to Yoruichi," Urahara said, smiling sadly. "Might as well tell you. You need to know what could happen to Rukia and the baby. I am sure Yoruichi wouldn't mind me telling, either. It's still a touchy subject for her, but she's better about it now."

Urahara took a few deep breaths before starting his story.

"It all started about fifty years ago. Yoruichi was in the human world, in a Gigai because her powers had been diminished, and she was waiting for them to recover. She . . . well, she got pregnant against her will. Soul Society came after her, and she was caught. She gave birth to the baby when she was only seven and a half months pregnant." Now, Urahara looked angry. "They could have easily saved the baby, but they decided to run tests on it instead. The baby was premature, so without the proper care, he died within two days. Yoruichi wasn't even allowed to see him. She couldn't even name him, because she didn't know the gender until months later."

"Did she decide on a name?" Ichigo asked softly.

"She named him Diasuke," Urahara answered.

"I won't let that happen to Rukia. I _can't_," Ichigo said firmly, his eyes drifting toward Rukia, who was curled into a small ball under a large quilt.

Neither Urahara or Ichigo spoke for a while. Finally, Urahara stood up, turning to the clock. He was surprised to see that it was about nightfall.

"You should get some sleep. Once Renji arrives, there won't be much sleep for you. Not until the baby's born. You'll be busy."

And with that, Urahara walked out of the room, shutting off the light on his way out.

Ichigo sighed and crawled under the blanket beside Rukia, wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't tired, but he did need the sleep.

**

* * *

**

Urahara sat up all night, waiting for Renji. He knew that if Renji knew Rukia was in trouble, he would be there quickly.

Finally, around three in the morning, a small tap on the door brought Urahara from his thoughts. He quickly sat up and walked to the door, opening it and letting the red haired Shinigami inside. Renji looked worried.

"What's happened? I followed Rukia's Spirit Force here," he said urgently.

"Everyone's fine for now. I'll let Ichigo explain." Urahara led Renji into the room where Ichigo and Rukia were sleeping. After quickly waking Ichigo, he let Renji inside.

Ichigo sat up, not sure where he was at first. Then the events of the past came flowing back to him. He looked up to see Renji.

"Thank God you're here. We need help," Ichigo said, standing to his feet. Rukia rolled over, apparently missing Ichigo's warm body.

"With what? Ichigo, what's wrong? It's been ten years since Rukia last contacted me like that." Renji was _really_ worried by now.

"We need somewhere to hide from the Soul Society," Ichigo replied.

"Why?"

"Because Rukia's pregnant."

Renji didn't understand at first, but then it dawned on him. He sat down on the ground, Ichigo following suit. He looked stunned, and even more deeply worried, if that was possible.

"Oh, God, you mean . . ."

"Their going to be after us, Renji. We knew we could trust you. Can you help us?" Ichigo pleaded.

"Yeah. I can help. I know somewhere you can stay. Soul Society hasn't detected the baby's presence yet. But it's only a matter of time. Sooner, I would think, rather than later."

Ichigo nodded, standing back to his feet. He turned around to look out the window.

"It's been twelve hours. Twelve hours, and my life has been changed in too many ways to count. I'm on the run from the Soul Society to save my baby's life, and I'm going to be a father, for God's sake. I . . . I don't know how Rukia is handling it. If we get caught, she's the one who is going to be worse off." Ichigo faced Renji again. Determination was set on his face.

"We should go," Renji said gently. Ichigo nodded, and, reaching down, he picked the sleeping Rukia up in his arms. Then he and Renji jumped out the window. As they ran, no one looked out their windows. No one saw them, for they were just a shadow in the night.

* * *

Well, should I continue, or should I just try and hide all evidence that I ever even tried?

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. A Friend Betrayed

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — II**

"I will get her back," whispered Renji.

He silently watched as Ichigo gently sat Rukia down on the ground, taking off his coat and wrapping it around her small body. He walked out of the cave, looking down at the river below. The waves crashed upon the rocks, spraying the air around them. His eyes drifting back towards Ichigo, who was talking quietly to Rukia, explaining where they were.

He was slightly envious.

He used to be the one that Rukia confided in. She would tell him her secrets, though not the girlie ones, her dreams and her worries. She could cry on his shoulder when something was wrong, and they would play and learn together. They were closer than brother and sister. Bur Renji had always had different feelings for Rukia. He wasn't sure what they were, just that they weren't normal. When she would smile, he would suddenly come alive and smile, too. When she was laughing, he wanted to laugh right along with her. He had loved her smile. It was so beautiful. He would go out of his way to make her laugh or giggle. It always made him happy to hear her voice.

He wasn't sure what the feelings were, but he thought they were love.

He'd never been in love before, though. And he didn't know what it felt like. So he could never be sure. But today, as he sat watching the waves crash upon the rocks, he felt as though life was crashing down on him.

He had loved Rukia, but had never told her. And now she loved Ichigo, and Ichigo loved her. His chance was gone, and he had to move on.

"I'm sorry."

The voice broke Renji from his thoughts.

He looked over to see Ichigo standing beside him, his orange hair blowing in the wind. His arms were wrapped tightly around his chest, and he was looking out into the setting sun. The glow cast upon his face made him seem years older than he really was.

"Sorry? For what?" Renji asked, swallowing the knot in his throat.

"I know you loved her."

"I-I . . ."

But Renji couldn't respond. He simply looked away.

"I can't say I'm sorry for loving her, Renji. Because I'm not. But I am sorry for hurting you. I really, _really_ am. And I know Rukia is, too."

Renji heard the sincerity in Ichigo's voice, and had the courage to look over. Ichigo had turned his head so he was now facing Renji. Their eyes met and Ichigo gave the smallest of smiles.

"But now isn't the time for such thoughts," Renji said. "I got a message from the Soul Society. They've detected something, but they don't know what it is. They're sending Captain Byakuya and Captain Hitsugaya to investigate. They wanted to send me, but I told them I was on extremely important business. But I do need to get back."

"Thanks for helping us, Renji," Ichigo said. Renji nodded.

"I'll try and be back soon to see what else I can do." And with one last look toward Rukia, he smiled at Ichigo and disappeared.

Ichigo turned and walked back into the cave. It was in the middle of nowhere, and the walls had been re-enforced with a special materiel that could hide the signature of a Shinigami. They caves had been built more than a hundred years ago when the Shinigami were on the run from an unseen foe. He knew that they couldn't stay for long, because the caves would be the first place anyone looked for them, as it would be the most logical place to stay.

"Are you awake?" Ichigo asked quietly, bending down beside Rukia. She nodded and sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking around the room. As she tried to stand, Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You shouldn't be moving too much just yet. Renji backed my theory about the baby's spiritual power making pregnancy much, much harder than normal."

Rukia nodded and sat back down, the feeling of nausea crashing over her again. She tried to hold it in, but soon found that she couldn't.

"S-sorry," Rukia stuttered, shivering against the cold again.

"You've no reason to be sorry," Ichigo said. He then started looking around for wood chunks to start a fire. They would both freeze if they couldn't start one.

Just as Ichigo was about to light the few sticks he had found, he found that Renji was right in front of him.

"Renji . . . what are you d-" Ichigo started.

"No time. News from the Soul Society. They're sending Captains Byakuya and Hitsugaya and their vices here to look for you. I'm supposed to be with them, but I had to warn you. You have to go _now_."

Ichigo looked alarmed. "They found out about the baby?"

"Investigated your father then erased his memory. Since they couldn't sense your Spirit Power, and Ichigo, yours is fairly easy to sense, they knew you must have come here," Renji explained quickly. "I have to go, but you _need_ to get out of here."

Ichigo nodded and walked over to Rukia, helping her to her feet.

"Thank you, Renji," Rukia said, smiling tiredly at him.

"You're welcome, both of you. And Rukia, your brother's pissed that you got yourself pregnant. He was fuming when he found out."

Rukia winced, nodding. "I thought that would happen."

"Go now," Renji said, disappearing. Ichigo took his lead and used Shunpo (_Flash step_) to bring them out of the caves and onto the solid ground some ways away.

"Let me carry you again," Ichigo suggested. Rukia didn't refuse and Ichigo lifted her into his arms; he started off at a run. "Do you know anywhere we could go?"

"No," Rukia replied. "I'd almost think the Soul Society, but I don't know if I could make it through the Sen-Kimon." _(A/N: Sen-Kimon is the troublesome pathway they had to go through to get to the Soul Society. See Vol. 8 Chapter 70! Or just take my word for it.)  
_  
"Why Soul Society?" Ichigo asked, keeping his questions short for he was running out of breath again. It had taken a good hour and a half of running to get to the caves, and he had only rested for twenty minutes.

"Because we could hide our spiritual power better there. Stay in one of the soul villages until the baby is born," Rukia explained, laying her head against Ichigo's chest. She was feeling sleepy again.

"Would that be the best option for you and the baby?"

"Yes, probably. I can hide my spirit power even now, but I would need some practice hiding the baby's. But it is within me, so I should be able to do it," Rukia said.

"Then we'll go through," Ichigo decided.

"I don't think I can-" Rukia started to protest. There was no way she could make it in her current state.

"I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I'll get you through," Ichigo said, smiling down at Rukia. "The gate takes seven days to make, correct?"

Rukia nodded.

"Then we have to get back to Urahara and ask him if he can do it."

* * *

A couple hours later, Ichigo sneaked inside the small store, Rukia still laying in his arms. Urahara was sitting up, talking to Yoruichi. Ichigo, careful not to startle them, walked over and spoke,

"We need help getting into the Soul Society," Ichigo announced.

"Why would you go straight into the hands of the very people who want you captured?" Urahara asked, surprise showing on his face. Ichigo explained what Rukia had said to him. Urahara nodded and said he would get to work on it right away. He started to leave the room, but Ichigo stopped him.

"Um, could you watch out for Rukia for a few days?"

"Why?" Urahara asked, turning back to him.

"I can't hide my spirit power, but she can. I need to get away from here to lead the search teams on a false trail. While they're following me, Rukia will be safe here," Ichigo said, running a hand through his wild orange hair and sighing deeply. "If I stay here, they will sense me and come after us, but if I leave they will sense me and, believing that I wouldn't leave Rukia behind, follow me. Please, just until the gate is done? When it's finished, contact me in some way, or ask Renji to do it."

Urahara thought for a minutes, finally nodding. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to go say good-bye. Please take good care of her."

Urahara nodded again and left the room, promising Ichigo that while he was in the underground training grounds, Yoruichi would watch over Rukia.

Ichigo sat down beside Rukia, who had heard everything he had said. She looked worried.

"Ichigo, you can't go out alone. They'll send more people when they realize that you're on the run," she reasoned, her eyes pleading with him. He shook his head.

"No, I have to go. By staying here even as long as I have, I've put you and the baby in danger. I have to do this Rukia. Please understand."

Rukia's eyes searched his, and, seeing that he wasn't going to back down, she sighed.

"Just please come back alive."

"I will. I promise," Ichigo said, leaning down and kissing her softly before standing to his feet. "I'll be back. I love you, Rukia."

"Please, Ichigo, don't do anything reckless," Rukia said, her voice quivering as her eyes filled with tears. Ichigo turned back, smiling at her before he jumped out of the window again.

* * *

He didn't know where he was headed, he was just running. He knew that they Soul Society would be upon him any second. He had been running for over an hour now; surely they sensed him and were coming for him. Unless they had found Rukia. No, they couldn't have. She was hiding her spirit power, and the baby's, and Urahara had promised to hide her when he was gone.

She was safe . . . wasn't she?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Ichigo tried to concentrate on running. If the Soul Society caught up with him, they would know that he didn't have Rukia with him, and that she had to be hiding somewhere else. Renji would probably know where, but he wouldn't tell. Or would he? Ichigo knew that Renji had loved Rukia, and most probably still did.

Coming and seeing Rukia pregnant with a baby that wasn't his probably hurt him a lot.

Ichigo had seen love do a lot of things. Including betraying friends. Renji wouldn't, surely he wouldn't!

Ichigo was more worried than ever now. Trying to calm himself down, he tried to reason with himself. Renji was a good friend, he had helped them, and then warned them when the Soul Society was coming after them.

Unless . . .

He hadn't seen anyone from the Soul Society in the time that he had been running. They were faster than this. They would have caught up with him by now.

But what if they weren't coming? What if Renji had lied? What if they weren't on their way to the caves, but instead, he was working with them, and had lured Ichigo and Rukia back to the Urahara shop.?

Worry taking over all reason, Ichigo stopped running and turned around, ready to head back to the shop.

_He had to get back to Rukia_!

"Where are you going?"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks as he heard the all too familiar voice. Spinning around, his worries were confirmed. Before him, smiling, was Renji.

"What are you doing, Renji?" Ichigo asked, looking around him. Renji was blocking the only pathway out of the current spot he was in.

"Taking back what's rightfully mine."

Ichigo was speechless. Renji just stood there, slowly walking forward as he twirled his sword in his hands. Ichigo backed up as Renji walked forward.

"No, you can't be-"

Renji cut him off.

"Be what?" he asked, smirking. "I can be whatever I want."

"Were you working with them the whole time?" Ichigo asked, his surprise turning into disbelif.

"Not all the time. Ever since I brought you to the caves, yes. Look, Ichigo, you can walk away from this. Just walk off and pretend nothing happened. We'll take Rukia back with us, and you can forget everything you ever saw."

"No, I won't let you. Don't you dare even _touch _Rukia!"

Renji sighed. "I was hoping that you would be able to walk away from this. I really don't hate you, Ichigo. You're a friend. But if you're going to get in the way, then I'll just have to kill you."

"But-" Ichigo started.

"Howl, Zabimaru."

Ichigo's eyes widened as Renji's sword transformed. The sword seemed to split into several pieces, each with a sharp blade on the end, and it was seemingly held together by a flexible material, but a strong one.

"As we speak, Captain Byakuya and Captain Hitsugaya are on their way to retrieve Rukia. She will be put into jail, and the baby will be destroyed."

"No!" Ichigo shouted, bringing out his own sword. "I won't let you! You can't!"

"We already have. And you can't stop us."

Ichigo was surprised at the triumphant look on Renji's face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Did Renji really love Rukia that much? To go to such desperate lengths to take her back?

"Wrong." Ichigo's eyes were suddenly filled with determination and confidence. "I promised I would protect her and the baby. And I intent to keep that promise."

Closing his eyes, Ichigo held out his sword in front of him.

"_Final Release, tensa Zangetsu, Chains Of Heaven - Slicing moon_."

* * *

Hmm ... what do you think?

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	3. Broken Resolve

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — III**

Rukia was sitting at the small table, talking to Yoruichi and holding a cup of warm tea in her hands, when the door flew open. It was Urahara. He looked as though he had run from far away, and was panting.

"Rukia! Hide!"

Rukia didn't have time to question what Urahara was saying. Only seconds after he had yelled, Byakuya and Hitsugaya appeared behind him. Rukia's eyes went wide as she stared up at the two captains. Yoruichi automatically stood up in front of Rukia, ready to defend her if it came to that. Urahara stood his ground to the two captains. No one moved for what seemed like forever. Suddenly, Rukia was overcome with nausea.

How inconvenient.

Dropping to her knees by the trashcan, Rukia threw up any trace of what she had eaten in the last few hours. Yoruichi looked in her direction, concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," Rukia said quietly, still not moving from her spot by the trashcan.

"If you come quietly, we will not use force," Byakuya spoke from the door, his voice as calm and cold as ever. Hitsugaya just looked bored.

"No! I won't!" Rukia protested firmly, standing to her feet and backing up against the wall.

"Very well."

Byakuya walked forward only to have Yoruichi get in his way. Using flash step and taking her off guard, Byakuya threw her off balance; her movments were slow because she wasn't used to being in her human form after so many years.

She flew into the wall, her head making contact with a crack as she fall slowly to the floor. Urahara stood in the way, taking his sword from his cane. Byakuya stopped walking for a brief second, motioning to Hitsugaya. The smaller Shinigami walked forward. He understood what Byakuya wanted; to get Rukia and get out with as little bloodshed as possible.

Hitsugaya walked over to Yoruichi and pulled out his Zanpakuto and held it against her throat. Urahara glanced quickly between Rukia and Yoruichi. Rukia was pressing herself hard up against the wall and Yoruichi had begun to bleed from the contact with the wall.

His brief hesitation gave Byakuya all the time he needed. In less than one second, he had Rukia held tightly around the waist and was carrying her out of the Urahara Store. The only person faster than him at shunpo was Yourichi. And she wasn't much help right now.

He watched as they walked out. Rukia was struggling for everything she was worth. Byakuya, finally tired of fighting her, pulled a small shot out of his pocket. He had been ordered to take it along just in case. Pulling the cover off with his teeth, he shoved it into Rukia's arm. Her eyes went wide as she realized what was happening.

Urahara could still hear every word.

"No! Please, no! It'll hurt the baby!" Rukia was yelling again, but her strength was slowly evaporating. "No, no, no . . . the baby . . ."

Suddenly, she slumped into Byakuya's arm. He proceeded to carry her out of the store, leaving Urahara with Hitsugaya.

It was raining . . .

"No!" Urahara yelled, beginning to run after Byakuya. But Hitsugaya was still there, holding his Zanpakuto against Yoruichi's throat.

"You move, and I will kill her," he said. Urahara wasn't sure he believed him, but he couldn't chance it. The look on Hitsugaya's face certainly suggested that he would, indeed, be ready to kill Yoruichi if the need arose.

Urahara was torn between keeping his promise to Ichigo and saving Yoruichi's life. If he went after Rukia, Yoruichi would die, but if he stayed, he was killing Ichigo's child, and possibly Rukia as well. But in the next second, his mind was made up for him. Hitsugaya suddenly disappeared from the room in one or two quick flash steps. Urahara ran over to Yoruichi and bent down beside her.

She was still awake, but blood was leaking from her mouth and out of a wound on the back of her head. She coughed a few times and lifted herself onto her elbows.

"You f-fool, go after them," she said, just barely managing the words before passing out.

Urahara didn't know what to do.

* * *

"_Final Release, tensa Zangetsu, Chains Of Heaven - Slicing moon_."

Renji and Ichigo just stared at each other for a few seconds, neither wanting to be the one to have taken the first move. Ichigo was about to open his mouth to speak when he felt something cold fall on his nose. He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he couldn't stop himself as he lifted his head toward the sky. Rain was starting to fall down. Ichigo smiled and looked back at Renji.

"I hate the rain. It brings back too many bad memories," Ichigo said quietly, still not moving his eyes from Renji's.

Seconds later, Renji surprised Ichigo by making the first move. Ichigo jumped out of the way at the last second, the end of his clothes getting snagged by the blade. As Renji's Zanpakuto cut through the building they were standing upon, Ichigo silently thanked God that it was abandoned.

Coming to a stop at the edge of the building, Ichigo quickly caught his balance.

"I don't want to fight you, Renji. Just please, leave us alone!"

"I can't do that! I have orders, and Rukia's already been taken! They're probably on their way here already to pick me up before we head back," Renji said.

"Already been taken?" Ichigo yelled, shaking his head to get the water out of his eyes. The rain had begun pouring down faster and faster. "What the hell do you mean?"

"Look, Ichigo, I really didn't want to do this to you. But orders are orders, do you really think I would do this of my own accord?"

Ichigo was speechless.

"But you said it was because of Rukia!" Ichigo sputtered, shaking his head again. The rain was worse, and it was making it hard for him to see. It didn't look like it bothered Renji one bit, though.

"I love Rukia, but that's not completely why I am doing this!"

"Completely?" Ichigo asked. He could feel that Renji wasn't sure of his actions. Renji knew that he could never have Rukia unless Ichigo was out of the way, but at the same time, he knew that, if he killed Ichigo, he would be hurting Rukia in the worst way possible.

"Look! I made a deal with some higher ups. I would help capture Rukia and you, but in return, they had to let the baby live. I had to pull some pretty big strings to do it, too! I did this for _you guys_!"

Neither of them spoke. Renji suddenly charged. Ichigo dodged, but Renji's blade wrapped around his own, holding it completely still. Neither of them could attack.

"You can't attack me if you don't let go!" Ichigo shouted, but he didn't think Renji had heard him. Thunder crashed loudly ahead as lightning struck close by, lighting up the whole area. Only ten minutes ago, before the rain had started, it had been bright outside. But now the dark, threatening clouds smothered out the light.

Renji growled, but unhooked his sword anyway. He had to end this quickly, he knew that much, because Ichigo was stronger than him. If he let it go on until it was a full blown fight, he would lose again.

Deciding to end it with one move, Renji focused all of his reiatsu into his sword. The blade began glowing a light red; Ichigo would notice, he had to make this quick.

Ichigo didn't know what it was. Maybe the rain was messing with his vision, maybe it had been better fighting on Renji's part, or maybe he just didn't see it coming, but in the seconds, Renji had stabbed Ichigo through the stomach. Renji's reiatsu flowed through him like a bullet, pulling apart his internal organs.

He fell to the ground, his blood mixing with the rain.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I really didn't want it to go this far. I really didn't. But you know how things turn out. We'll take Rukia back to the Soul Society, and she will be locked up." Renji started to walk away, but Ichigo managed to pull himself up onto his elbows.

"P-please, what w-will happen to the b-baby?" Ichigo stuttered, spitting blood out of his mouth.

Renji stopped in his tracks and sighed. He looked down at the ground and sighed.

"I don't know. A child with that power, if allowed to live, will have to be trained from the day it can walk how to control it. The child, if it is not used for experiments, will be given to a noble, probably, to train."

Just as he finished saying that, two, _no_, three more people joined him. Ichigo's vision was going blurry, and he didn't think it was just from the rain. He was dying . . .

"You got him?" a voice asked.

Ichigo blinked several times to get his vision back. He looked up into the face of Byakuya Kuchiki, who was holding Rukia in his arms. Hitsugaya stood beside him.

"Rukia!" Ichigo managed to yell, though began coughing blood the second he did.

"Shouldn't we alert someone to help?" Hitsugaya asked, his eyes straying to Ichigo; a large puddle of blood was now surrounding him.

"No," Byakuya said, not turning to look at Ichigo. "Let's go, Renji,"

Ichigo, gathering the last bit of power that he had left over, yelled, "What if it had been Hisana!"

Byakuya stopped in his tracks, his grip on Rukia tightening. He didn't turn around, but Ichigo knew he had struck a nerve. Renji stopped as well, only a few feet from Ichigo. Finally, after what seemed forever, Byakuya whispered,

"What?"

Ichigo could barely speak now. He could feel himself dying, and he knew it was only a matter of time until he did. Spitting out a mouthful of blood and water, he tried to speak.

"What if y-you and H-Hisana were i-in our p-position? W-what if it h-h-had been Hisana . . ."

Renji could see that Ichigo was getting through to Byakuya. He could see it in the way Byakuya twitched, in the way he looked, and in the way his resolve seemed to crumble. Ichigo had known just where to hit Byakuya, and he had hit it well.

"What i-if it had b-been your b-baby?" Ichigo stuttered, fighting the urge to let the blackness take over him. He knew he had to stay awake, he had to . . . _he had to_!

Byakuya still didn't turn, but both Hitsugaya and Renji could see he was fighting an internal battle, and losing. Renji growled, turning around to Ichigo, who was still fighting to breathe, though he could see each breath was getting harder to take.

If Ichigo didn't stop . . . Rukia and the child would be killed anyway! He couldn't let Ichigo get through to Byakuya, or his deal with Central 49 would be broken and Rukia would die!

"Shut up!" he yelled, kicking Ichigo in the ribs. Ichigo grunted in pain; he didn't even have enough energy to yell. Laying his head down on the ground, he knew that he wasn't going to win this battle. He was going to die . . . but he could do something worthwhile with his last breaths. For God's sake, he could save Rukia! He just had to get through to Byakuya.

"W-what would y-y-you have d-done . . .I-In m-my position . . . " Ichigo's vision was blacking out; he could only see the vague outline of Byakuya and Renji.

"I said shut up!" Renji yelled, preparing to kick Ichigo again. He didn't want to, but Ichigo was going to die, and that was that. He couldn't let Ichigo crack Byakuya's resolve. They had to get Rukia back to the Soul Society! They had to! He had sworn on his position as a vice-captain that they would bring her back. He would probably lose his position if they didn't!

"No," Byakuya said. Renji stopped immediately, but still glaring at Ichigo. Byakuya continued speaking, "A while ago, Ichigo Kurosaki, you made me realize that the rules weren't everything. I was ready to kill my own sister, I believed in them so firmly. But you realize, if I do this, it is one rule that I can't bend or break. If Central 49 ever finds out that I had Rukia in my grasp, and let her go, I would be stripped of my Captain's position and would be put in jail."

Ichigo didn't speak, he couldn't. When Renji had kicked him, he had broken several ribs, and it felt as though one of them had ripped open his lung.

"If it had been Hisana, I would be doing exactly what you are doing now."

Ichigo managed one last word before the blackness washed over him. He didn't know what Byakuya would do. He didn't think he would let Rukia go. Maybe make her sentence lighter, but not let her go.

"Please . . ."

* * *

In case you didn't get it, Ichigo was asking Byakuya "What if it was _you and Hisana_ in _me and Rukia'_s position? What would you do?"

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	4. Help Of An Enemy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing! And for the quote "The will to live is greater than death itself".

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**Shadows In The Night — IV**

_Was he dead? . . . no, he couldn't be . . . _

"What are you doing?"

Ichigo's vision was blurred as he stood to his feet, looking around. His hands automatically went to his stomach, which was no longer bleeding . . . what the hell! It wasn't even cut anymore! Alarmed, he looked around. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he recognized where he was at. He glanced around, trying to find Zangetsu. But he was no where to be found.

Zangetsu usually only came out during fights. It was unusual that he had pulled Ichigo here on his deathbed. Suddenly, Ichigo's surroundings changed. Everything was dark . . . he blinked to keep the fuzziness out of his vision as he tried to see something, anything.

Then he saw him.

"Why are you here!" Ichigo shouted. "Who are you?"

"I'm _you_. I thought we already got around that."

Suddenly, the world around him began to spin. Ichigo found himself slightly dizzy as he closed his eyes against the spinning. Then it stopped. When he opened his eyes, he wasn't at all prepared for what he saw. He was standing up on the same building that he had died on. His body was lying on the ground, the pool of blood around him thick and dark. He silently thanked God that Rukia wasn't awake to see that. The he saw Renji, Byakuya and Hitsugaya. Renji wanted to leave; he looked sick at the sight of Ichigo, knowing that he had been the one to kill him.

Hitsugaya was just standing there, his eyes cast upon the ground. He had killed many, many times. But he still didn't like seeing people dying.

And Byakuya was as cold and distant as usual as he stood there, Rukia still in his grip. Ichigo began to run to him, wanting to take Rukia back, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned around, growling at the man that said he was Ichigo himself.

"You can't do anything. They can't see you; you're dead."

"Then why the hell did you bring me here?" Ichigo demanded. He was looking desperately backward as Byakuya turned his back and began to walk away. Hitsugaya followed. Renji, though much slower, glanced back at Ichigo, his eyes filled with pain at having killed his friend.

"Sorry, Ichigo."

Ichigo watched this, nearly screaming. He wanted to go back! He could see the pain that Renji would carry if he didn't! He wanted to go to Rukia!

"Then why don't you?"

Ichigo spun around and came face to face with his other side.

"How? How the hell can I? I'm dead, for God's sake!"

He glanced desperately back at the group as they continued walking. It seemed as everything was going in slow motion. They were walking far too slow. Maybe time was slowed down here.

"Your will to live is greater than death itself."

"Why are you helping me?" Ichigo questioned, his heart telling himself to believe this man, but his head telling him there was no way. His body was gone, he couldn't go back. "Every other time I've seen you, you tried to kill me!"

"That was when you needed help in battle!"

"What's so different now!" Ichigo yelled, feeling fury build up inside of him.

"You need help to live! I _am _you!_ You_ pulled yourself inside this world to help yourself! You want to live, I know you do, so pull yourself together and _do_ it!"

Ichigo was shocked. The other . . . no_, he_ was right. He needed to live. If he died, so would Rukia, and his baby. Darn it, he had to live! He had to!

Ichigo felt himself slipping. Like he was on an iced roof, and he was slowly sliding off. He closed his eyes and let the sensation take over himself.

Then he felt pain. Hard, blinding pain. But he had to ignore it. As he slowly opened his eyes, he realized that he was back in his body. He could see Byakuya and the others walking off. No! He couldn't let them!

But he was still dying. He was awake, which was a step up from earlier, but his vision was about to go out again, probably from lack of blood, and he would be back where he started. No, he couldn't. He had to get up.

_Get up! Get up! Get up!_

His mind was screaming on thing, while the pain coursing through his body was screaming another. He _wanted_ to save Rukia, but _could_ he?

Yes! He had to! He had to stand, to take out his Zanpaktou . . . and he had to fight!

He could feel his body moving. He felt his hands move, and he felt his body being pulled up from the ground. He could feel his legs stand beneath him, but he didn't know how he was doing it.

_. . .Your will to live is greater than death itself. . ._

He had to believe that. He had to. He had to stand, and he had to fight.

He couldn't die yet, not now, and not this way. He wanted to see his baby born, and he wanted to see it grow up. He wanted to see Rukia's smiling face again. He wanted to see his friends, and his family. He wanted to see tomorrow.

He needed power to do that. Right now, though he was standing, he couldn't do much of anything. Even if he could fight, he would die quickly. He _needed_ power.

There was only one place he knew where to get it.

_Help me._

Ichigo whispered the silent plea in his head, willing the hollow within him out. He could win the fight . . . he could live. But he had to call out the power he hated so much. He had to call out the side of him he never wanted to use.

But, in order to save Rukia, he had to.

_Please, help me._

Ichigo knew it was happening when he felt as if his body was being super heated. He could feel the power coursing through his veins. He could feel himself being taken over.

And, for once in his life, he let it happen. He embraced and welcomed it. If this was the only way to save Rukia, he would do it. He would kill himself afterwards if he couldn't break the Hollows grip on him, but he would do it.

Finally, he heard the voice in his head.

_Stupid. Go and get yourself killed why don'tcha? Well, I can heal a small wound like this if I want to. _

Please.

Will you let me fight?

Ichigo knew he didn't have a choice.

_Yes. But I have a favor to ask. Please give me back control when this is over. I beg of you._

_I don't have to do anything now that I have control. Your body is so weak, I could completely take over if I wanted. _

Please. We can work together. I need you power, and you need my body. You know you would be killed if you take over completely. Please, lend me your power . . .

For now. And we'll see how I feel about giving you body back later. I must cut. I need to taste blood. It's been so long . . .

Ichigo could feel the need . . . like it was his own. And he knew that the Hollow would kill everyone. He would kill them, and he would have fun doing it.

_No! Don't kill them! Please!_ Ichigo suddenly realized what a mistake he had made.

_Who said kill? I want to make them suffer. I want to feel that satisfaction again!_

Ichigo could feel the Hollow taking complete control. He could feel himself being pushed back further and further into the realm of nowhere.

The_ he _was back.

"Fight him. Do not let him take control. _Fight him_!"

Ichigo could see himself again. His inner self was back, standing right in front of him.

"Ichigo, _fight him_. He will kill, he will not let your friends live. You have to do this on your own!"

"I can't, darn it! I can't do anything without his help! I'm dying, I'm dead! I need his power!"

"Fool! Your own power is enough! You have to fight! Pull yourself together, and do not let him take control! You will die! And those you love will die!"

Ichigo didn't know what to do. His inner self was pushing him to take control, but he needed the power the Hollow offered. He had to embrace that power . . . and live.

He could feel the Hollow beginning to heal him. Once he was fully healed, the Hollow would take over him completely, and he would be gone. Rukia would be safe, but he would be gone.

No. He had to fight it. The Hollow would kill Renji, and he would kill Byakuya and Hitsugaya. He couldn't let that happen. He had to win this on his own, and he had to do it with his own two hands.

He could feel himself growing more powerful as the healing was nearly completed. He had to hurry and take back control. It was a mistake to let the Hollow out in the first place. He should have believed in himself from the beginning.

Then, everything went black and he knew that the Hollow had taken control.

_No! Damn! He had to do this!_

But he couldn't. It felt as though chains were holding him in place as he tried to take control of the Hollow.

Then, he heard the voice that wasn't his own. Suddenly, his would was lit up again as the Hollow allowed Ichigo to see through his own eyes.

"Now, I will let you watch, Ichigo, as I kill your friends. Then I will kill Rukia. Nice and slow."

Ichigo's Hollow charged. Byakuya spun around, just realizing that Ichigo was on his feet. Renji turned to, gasping as he watched the mask on Ichigo's face spread out, covering his face from top to bottom. He took out his sword, but he wasn't quick enough. The Hollow stabbed Renji straight through the heart, laughing as he fell to the ground.

"NO!"

Ichigo heard himself speak through the Hollow.

"Shut up, Ichigo!" his Hollow yelled back.

Ichigo pulled and pulled on the invisible chains that were wrapped around him. He would break free! He could do it, he just had to find the strength!

"No! Stop! I can kill you! I _will_ kill you!"

And before Ichigo knew what was happening, the Hollow had stabbed himself, knowing that as soon as Ichigo was weak enough, he could take over again. Ichigo felt himself fall to his knees.

_No! He couldn't die! If the Hollow took over, everyone he loved would die!_

With an ear-splintering scream, Ichigo reached up and took hold of his mask, pulling it with all his might. The Hollow was weakened, too, he could feel it as he pulled at the mask. He knew that the Zanpaktou had missed any vital organs. He was still breathing, and he could still move. That was a good sign.

Then, without realizing where he had gotten the power from, Ichigo had ripped off the mask, watching as it crumbled at his feet.

"Sorry, Renji. Sorry Rukia."

And with those final words, Ichigo fell unconscious. He would live, if he was given help, he knew that. He had to trust that Byakuya would help Renji and him.

But it was likely that Renji was gone anyway. Gone somewhere he could never return from.

* * *

Nerve-wracking, huh? The next chapter will be the same thing happening here, but through Byakuya and Renji's thoughts.

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	5. The Will To Live

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

**

* * *

**

**Shadows In The Night — V**

Byakuya stood in the middle of the roof, looking at Ichigo's body. His chest still moved up and down in shaky breaths. Probably the young Shinigami's last. Glancing over at Renji, Byakuya was surprised to see pain in his eyes.

Renji was standing beside Ichigo's body, his sword fallen to the ground and his fists clenched. His body was shaking; Byakuya could tell that it was a mix of anger and regret that was flowing through the red-headed Shinigami's body.

Byakuya turned around and began walking away. Hitsugaya followed, his eyes cast downward.

"Sorry, Ichigo," Renji whispered, and then, he too turned his back. They walked for several seconds when Renji was sure he heard something behind him. He had begun to turn, but Byakuya was quicker.

The captain spun around and took out his sword, his eyes going wide as he watched a milky white mask spread over Ichigo's face. The younger man . . . _no_, this wasn't a man. This was a _monster_.

This monster was going to fight with the last bit of life Ichigo had left.

But Byakuya himself couldn't fight. He had Rukia in his arms.

Renji solved this problem for him, taking out his blade.

Everything that happened in the next few seconds was like a dream. It all happened too fast. It was so unreal.

Before Byakuya could react, the Hollow had stabbed Renji straight through the heart.

"NO!"

Byakuya gasped; that had been Ichigo speaking, not the Hollow. He had to do something; if he just stood by and watched, everyone would die, and he probably would, too. He had witnessed this Hollows power, and he couldn't match it. There was no way.

"Shut up, Ichigo!" This time it was the Hollow speaking, not Ichigo. Then, as it spoke its next words, Byakuya knew he had to do something. And quickly. "No! Stop! I can kill you! I _will_ kill you!"

Then, the Hollow stabbed himself.

Byakuya backed up a little, glancing quickly over at Renji; he was most probably dead . . . but if he got help quickly, he would live . . .

Then, Ichigo lifted his hand up and ripped off the mask. Byakuya watched in silence as he dropped it and it crumbled at his feet. Ichigo spoke.

"Sorry, Renji. Sorry Rukia."

As Ichigo collapsed, Byakuya placed Rukia down on the roof and ran over, checking his pulse. He was still alive.

Leaving Ichigo, Byakuya walked over to Renji, placing two fingers on his neck, feeling for the pulse he knew probably wouldn't be there.

But it was. It was amazing, but Byakuya could still feel a faint pulse.

"Call for help!" he yelled back to Hitsugaya. He began checking over Renji's wounds, then, after realizing he could do nothing to help, he walked back over to Ichigo. His previous wound was gone. Completely healed. In it's place, there was a large wound in his stomach, and the sword was still inside him; blood was seeping out around the Zanpaktou, the puddle of blood around the young man growing larger as the seconds bore on. Ichigo would be fine if help arrived soon, but if it didn't, he and Renji would both die.

"I-Ichigo! Renji!"

Byakuya spun around to see Rukia sitting up on the roof.

She was awake!

Rukia was soaked to the skin with the rain, as they all were. Her black hair was hanging limply around her face and her eyes were filled with tears as she tried to struggle to her feet. Byakuya was at her side in a second to keep her from running over to either injured man. It was better that she didn't see the full extent of their wounds; it could cause problems for the baby.

"Nii-Sama! Let me go!" Rukia yelled, trying to break free of his grasp.

Seconds later, Hitsugaya reappeared by Byakuya's side, and standing beside him were Retsu Unohana and Isane Kotetsu, the captain of the forth division and her vice captain.

Retsu Unohana took control of the situation immediately after seeing the two injured men.

"Isane, go to Ichigo!"

Isane nodded as her captain ran over to Renji. After a quick survey of his wounds, he turned to Byakuya and Rukia, the latter of which had calmed down a little after seeing that there was help for Ichigo and Renji.

"His wounds are deep. I can heal them, but we should move to a better location."

Just as she spoke the words, Urahara suddenly appeared beside them. He looked around, his eyes going wide at the sight of Ichigo and Renji.

"Please, bring them to the Urahara Shop. Yoruichi has healed herself and can assist in healing these two. Follow me quickly."

And then he was gone. Byakuya followed without a word, taking a protestant Rukia with him. Unohana picked Renji up gently in her arms, and, using Shunpo, quickly followed Byakuya. Isane, realizing she was getting left behind, quickly grabbed Ichigo and followed after her Captain.

When she arrived, they were already setting Renji out on a blanket on the floor and Unohana was beginning the healing process.

As soon as Rukia saw Isane come inside with Ichigo, she jumped up from her spot and ran over. Byakuya didn't make a move to stop her as she fell to her knees beside him.

"Ichigo," she whispered quietly. Then, with tear-stained eyes, she looked up at Isane, who was currently preparing herself to heal him. "Is he going to be OK?"

"I think so. Can you stand back, please?"

Rukia nodded and walked back a few feet, sitting down on the floor and hugging the blanket Urahara had given her more tightly around her body. Yoruichi was helping heal Renji, as his wounds were worse than Ichigo's, and was only ten feet away, her eyes closed in concentration as she tried to fuse back together the veins and organs that had been injured.

Rukia leaned back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. She was feeling sick again, which she guessed was a good sign. But nonetheless, she really wished it would stop.

She was about to stand to her feet and walk into the bathroom when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see her brother.

"Nii-Sama . . ."

"They'll kill the child. When Ichigo has been fully healed, I will help you get away from here. I cannot do anymore than that, but I do hope you make it out alive."

Rukia looked surprised as Byakuya knelt down beside her.

"Please, do as I say. I will help you into Soul Society, there you can find a village to stay in until the child is born. Understand?"

Rukia nodded and Byakuya stood to his feet again, walking over to Unohana to see how the healing was doing.

After about ten minutes, Rukia stood shakily to her feet and walked over to Isane, sitting down beside Ichigo and taking his pale hand in her own small one. As she ran her fingers over his knuckles, she smiled.

Finally, Isane backed off, whipping sweat off of her brow. She looked up at Rukia and smiled.

"He's going to be fine now. I couldn't heal him all the way, but he will only feel a little pain when he awakens, and he will heal very soon."

"Thank you," Rukia said, fingering the tear in Ichigo's shirt. The wound, which had gone all the way through his body, was now only a small cut.

But something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Glancing up at Ichigo's face, she frowned when she saw that he was still sweating. She pressed her hand to his forehead to find it burning hot. Afraid of infection, she quickly checked Ichigo's pulse to find that it was too fast.

"I-I think something is wrong . . ." Rukia whispered to herself, touching his wound with her finger. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again. "Poison!"

Isane ran over quickly, dropping down beside Rukia and pressing her own hand to Ichigo's wound. She checked quickly, only to find that Rukia was right. She could sense the blood vessels and the blood running through them, but this was different. It was not blood, and Ichigo's other symptom's seemed to back up the fact that it was poison.

"What do we do?" Rukia asked, concern on her face. Her hand, which was still on Ichigo's chest, suddenly began glowing a light pink color. Isane gasped.

"What are you doing?' she asked.

"I-I don't know . . . I think . . . I'm healing him . . ." Rukia said, her voice low as the glow grew brighter. It soon attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

"Make her stop! It could hurt the baby!" Unohana yelled, though unable to move from her position; if she did, Renji's half healed heart would give out again.

Byakuya jumped up immediately and took Rukia by her shoulders, pulling her back so her hand moved from Ichigo's chest. Ichigo gasped loudly, turning over and throwing up all over the floor. He threw up large amounts of blood and another liquid that no one could identify. Isane immediately rolled him over onto his back again and checked him over; he seemed to be fine now.

Unohana had Yoruichi take over healing Renji and ran over to Rukia, helping her sit up. Rukia was gasping for breath and was holding her stomach in pain.

"Oh, God, the baby," Unohana said, laying Rukia down on her back. Rukia was sweating terribly and was wincing in pain, gripping her stomach tightly.

Everyone in the room had their eyes on Rukia. Unohana moved her hands over Rukia's stomach and closed her eyes, letting a large amount of her reiatsu flow into Rukia.

Rukia's pain stopped suddenly and she slumped over on the floor, unconscious.

"Is the baby . . ." Byakuya didn't finished his sentence as he knelt down beside his sister. He took her head and laid it in his lap, holding her small hand in his own.

"Since the child was conceived from a Human and a Shinigami, it had large amounts of reiatsu, even at this stage in pregnancy. Most of Rukia's reiatsu is going to help the baby mature; I think she used a large amount healing Ichigo, so the baby was deprived, thus causing a miscarriage. I was able to stop it, however, by transferring most of my reiatsu into the child, but I am afraid I am now too tired to continue healing Renji. I think, in my panic, I might have given the child too much of my reiatsu," Unohana explained, sitting down on the floor.

Byakuya nodded and glanced back over at Renji; Isane was now helping Yoruichi heal him.

Urahara, who had been silent while watching Renji be healed, spoke up.

"I'll clean that up," he said, pointing to the blood Ichigo had thrown up. "And does anyone need coffee? I sure could use some."

* * *

Five hours later, Rukia was sleeping quietly beside Ichigo, and Renji had been healed completely. Yoruichi and Isane were both too tired to speak when they had finished, and had moved into another room and fell asleep. Urahara and Byakuya were the only ones awake, besides Unohana, who was just checking on Ichigo, Rukia and Renji before going to sleep herself.

"Are you really going to help them?" Urahara asked Byakuya, a coffee cup, his forth one, wrapped tightly in his hands.

"I will help them into Soul Society. After that, I cannot help them anymore."

"Why are you helping in the first place? I mean, just yesterday, you were ready to kill Ichigo," Urahara said, nodding his head toward Ichigo, who had Rukia curled up by his side.

"I realized that I would be doing the same thing, if I were in Ichigo's place. If it had been Hisana pregnant all those years ago, and they were trying to kill my child, I would be running away, too."

Urahara nodded, and neither one spoke another word that night.

* * *

_. . . Am I dead?. . . ._

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, only to close them against the strong sunshine entering the room through the window.

No, he wasn't dead. But he sure felt like it.

But, as he rolled over onto his side to see Rukia sleeping beside him, he smiled and felt as though it were all worth it. He reached out and took her in his arms, holding her tightly against him.

He would fight one battle at a time; tomorrow would come, and there would be more trouble and trials, but he would face them one at a time, and they would make it.

They had to.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	6. A New Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — VI**

Ichigo woke early in the morning, blinking to clear his eyes of the bright sunshine flowing through the window. He sat up, putting his hand over his eyes and yawning. Rukia was still sleeping deeply beside him. Yawning again, he stood to his feet, careful not to wake Rukia, and began walking around the room. After a quick survey, he realized that he, Isane, Urahara, Yoruichi and Byakuya were the only ones up. But said Captain Shinigami was missing. Isane couldn't tell him where because she was in the shower, Urahara was too grumpy to care; he had just woken up, and Yoruichi was still healing Renji.

So he went in search of coffee.

_Lots_ and _lots_ of coffee.

He finally found it in the main room on the table. Sitting down, he poured himself a large cup and held it in his hands, willing the warmth from the cup to seep through his body.

He was just about to take a large gulp when the cup was suddenly lifted out of his hands. He pouted and looked up into the very tired face of Rukia Kuchiki.

"No coffee."

"Why not?" Ichigo pouted. "Just because you can't have it, you're banning me, too?"

"It'll slow your healing."

"Pint-sized devil - "

Was all Ichigo was able to get out before earning a sharp jab to the side of his head from said pint-sized devil. He grumbled as Rukia dropped down beside him, tiredly leaning her head against his arm.

Neither spoke for a few minutes. Ichigo sighed and reached over, picking up his new cup of _tea_ and sipping on it.

"Nii-sama said he will help us into the Soul Society," Rukia finally said, yawning. Ichigo was surprised, and didn't bother to hide this fact. Rukia reached over and took his cup of tea, sipping on it. Ichigo gave her a half-hearted glare.

"You're brother's going to help us?" Ichigo asked, not quite believing his ears. He quickly took his tea back from Rukia and began sipping at it again.

"Yeah."

"Will we have to go through Sen-Kimon?" Ichigo asked, his concern clear on his face.

Rukia shook her head. "We'll travel with Hell Butterflies."

"Good. I don't think it would be good for you or the baby," Ichigo said, wrapping his arm around her and rolling his eyes as she stole his tea again.

Their conversation was cut short when the door flew open and slammed into the wall.

Ichigo and Rukia jumped.

"What are you doing out of bed? You nearly died yesterday!" Isane screamed.

Ichigo winced, grabbing his stomach. When he had jumped, he had accidentally hit it against the table, spilling his tea in the process. He looked up into the face of an extremely pissed Isane. He had _never_ seen her like this.

"You nearly died yesterday, and today you go prancing around! Get back in bed!"

Ichigo whimpered and scrambled back to his blanket in the other room, climbing under the quilt and laying down. He didn't want to admit it, but he really was in a lot of pain. Of course, _that_ had to do with Isane coming in screaming and yelling, making him hit into the table. As he peeked out from under his quilt, he saw that Urahara, whom was much more awake now, was sitting across the room, grinning. Yoruichi was sitting next to him, having just finished healing Renji.

Urahara grinned as he spoke.

"Being pushed around by a girl? Wuss."

He was shut up by an elbow to the head from Yoruichi.

Ichigo snickered quietly as he turned away from the crazy, sandal-wearing shop man and stared at the wall.

"Look, Ichigo, I don't want to be pushy, I usually leave that to Captain Unohana-san, but since she's not here, I have to be. You need to stay in bed and rest! If you don't, you won't heal properly," Isane said, walking into the room and looking down at Ichigo. "And Byakuya-Sama is out reporting to the Soul Society. If he doesn't convince them that he wasn't able to find you, they will send reinforcements and we could all be in trouble. So please rest."

Ah. So what was why she was in such a crappy mood.

Ichigo nodded and sighed, pulling his pillow over his head to block out of the sunshine.

He was a lot more tired than he realized, probably from lack of coffee, and he could feel himself falling to sleep. As he slowly slipped into a deep sleep, everyone else tip-toed out of the room, careful not to wake the sleeping carrot-topped teenager.

* * *

Hours later, Ichigo was awake and sipping more tea as Unohana began healing Renji again. It was taking much work and a lot of help from Yoruichi to heal the red-headed man; the damage that the Hollow had inflicted on him was great. Rukia had fallen back to sleep over thirty minutes ago, so everyone was being quiet. However, that silence ended when Byakuya entered through the door.

"How did it go?" Ichigo asked, turning from his position leaning up against the wall to face the elder Kuchiki.

"We leave as soon as Renji can be moved."

Ichigo took that as "It went well" or "Nope. No one is coming to kill us."

Byakuya went over to Unohana to ask about Renji's condition and Ichigo was left alone again.

Maybe he could sneak some coffee . . .

This plan was ruined as Isane growled at him from across the room.

* * *

"Where is Ichi-nii?"

Yuzu, who had just finished cleaning out Ichigo's room, looked up at her father, her gaze filled with worry. Isshin smiled and said,

"He's gone. But he'll be back sometime."

"Oh," Yuzu said, disappointed. Then, she perked up again and asked, "Well, then where is Rukia-Chan?"

"She's with Ichigo. I guess I should tell you, huh?"

Yuzu's eyes were glowing with excitement as she nodded happily. She was just about jumping up and down on her feet, her stuffed lion hugged tightly to her chest as she smiled. He was gasping for breath, but no one noticed as Isshin smiled at his daughter and opened his mouth to speak.

"He and Rukia-Chan are going to have a baby. That's why their gone. They'll be back sometime. And Yuzu . . ." Isshin was cut off as he bent down to where he was eye-level with the stuffed lion. Two streams of tears were flowing down the lion's face as he cried loudly. "Is that lion . . . crying . . .?"

"N-Nee-san and Butt-face Ichigo are having a . . . a . . . a _baby? Nooooo_!"

"It _is_ talking! Karin! Come here! Father has finally found a stuffed animal worthy of your care! It _TALKS_!"

"Yeah, right."

Karin said as she walked up behind her father, lifting her leg and licking him straight onto the ground. She then proceeded to step on his head and the head of the "Taking Lion".

* * *

Ichigo sneezed.

"We'll leave now," Byakuya spoke.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked, turning around and staring at Byakuya, who was looking as stoned-faced as ever.

"Renji's ready to be moved," Unohana explained, standing to her feet and knocking dirt off of her clothes. Ichigo nodded, reaching down and picking up the still sleeping Rukia. She groaned in her sleep and grabbed onto his Shinigami robes with both hands.

Ichigo watched in amazement as Byakuya opened the gate; he'd seen several gates opened . . . but it never got old. It was still very cool.

"Unohana-san, Isane-San, go first," Yoruichi said.

Ichigo was confused.

"Uh . . how are we going to move Renji?" he asked, eying the large man. He sure as heck wasn't going to pick up the big lug. Yoruichi answered his question by picking Renji up and slinging him over her shoulder gently, walking through the gate after the two doctors. Ichigo shrugged. Well, that problem was solved.

"Kurosaki, you next," Byakuya said, turning to Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded and stepped up to the gate. It sure seemed more threatening when he wasn't going through it without thinking much first. This time, he was thinking a little too much, though.

He closed his eyes and walked through. Though he had never traveled this way, he still imagined it would feel something like this. A strange sensation was running through him as he exited on the other side. Unohana and Yoruichi were already far ahead of them, and Isane was waiting by the gate.

Ichigo looked up into the sky.

It was sunset . . .

He could see they sky clearly from his position from on top of the cliff. The bright pinks, reds and oranges flowed gently through the sky as he watched. The sun was casting a beautiful glow on the trees surrounding them, giving it a surreal look. It was beautiful . . .

"We have to move. Come quickly," Isane said, breaking into Ichigo's thoughts.

Ichigo nodded and began following her. Rukia was still clutched tightly in is grasp, and as he began running to catch up with Unohana and Yoruichi, he could feel her beginning to wake up. He could hear the gate shutting behind him and he knew that Byakuya would be following them soon.

Once he caught up with Yoruichi and Unohana, he could tell that night was approaching fast. The sun had nearly disappeared behind the trees, and the beautiful colors were almost gone. The stars were beginning to show through the black blanket of sky.

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked down and smiled at Rukia. She had woken up.

"Hey, sleeping beauty."

"Where are we?" Rukia asked, trying to get a look around Ichigo's shoulder. He shifted her so she could see right.

"We're in Soul Society. Just a little longer," he said quietly, kissing her forehead.

She nodded and settled into his arms again, resting her head against his chest.

"It's not going to rain tonight . . ."

She looked up as Ichigo spoke, and a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

"Yeah . . ."

The sunset was gone. But she knew that it would be there again.

As she stared up into the stars, all she wished was that she could be able to share it with Ichigo again.

* * *

For the record, when I was replacing this chapter with an edited version, I messed it up and somwhoe lost everything I had written. I didn't have it backed up, so I had to re-write it going off of a detailed outline. Sorry if anything is wrong.

**Please Review!**


	7. Cookie Monster

**P.S. - IMPORTANT NOTE! - **In the Soul Society, where the souls live, there are eighty districts. The best place to live would be the first, while the worst place would be the eightieth. Crime rates go _way_ up the further up you live.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

**

* * *

**

Shadows In The Night — VII

"This is as far as we can bring you."

Ichigo looked up as Byakuya spoke. He looked around the village; there were small children poking their heads out from behind telephone poles and houses. They either looked scared, or excited. The children's parents were all trying to take their kids back inside their houses, away from the Shinigami Captains.

"Thanks, guys."

"Ichigo, this is the forty-ninth district. It's not a very good area. Please, protect Rukia," Yoruichi said in a small voice, smiling sadly as she looked around the small village.

"I will," Ichigo promised, nodding as his grip around Rukia's waist tightened.

Yoruichi nodded and began walking off. Byakuya followed after her, stopping only to whisper into Ichigo's ear.

"If anything happens to my sister, I'll hold you responsible."

* * *

**Two Months Later**

"Ichigo, I want a cookie."

Said Shinigami rolled over in his bed and groaned, opening one eye and staring tiredly at Rukia, who was currently smiling as she stared back at him, her fingers stopping their constant poking for a second.

"Hu?" he whispered, blinking his eyes to clear them.

"I want a cookie," she repeated, poking him again.

He groaned again and flipped around in the bed, pulling his pillow over his head. She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip as she climbed out of their bed.

"Fine. I'll go get one myself."

Ichigo jumped up at this, climbing across the bed and placing his hands on Rukia's shoulders as he sat her back down on the bed in front of him. She turned around and glared at him. He sighed and stood to his feet, pulling a T-shirt on over his bare chest.

"I'll do it," he grumbled, slipping his sandals on as he walked to the door. "Stay inside until I'm back, alright?"

Rukia nodded and laid back down, smiling.

As Ichigo walked out, he groaned as the cold air hit his skin. It was the middle of November in Soul Society, and it was freezing. They had been there for nearly two months now; no invasions by Shinigami Captains and no threats of losing their heads, either. They were currently living in the forty-third district. Not the best place, but it was better than two months ago, when they had been in the forty-ninth.

He couldn't imagine Rukia having to have grown up in the seventy-eighth district; that was nearly the worst part.

But he had promised to protect her.

So that was what he was doing outside in the middle of November in his bed pants and a T-shirt. Going in search of a cookie.

He wished that they had a kitchen in their house; but they were currently in a small shack with only a bathroom and a bedroom. So, when Rukia woke up in the middle of the night, wanting something strange, like a cookie or strawberries, he had to go in search of them.

Thankfully, he had it easy tonight because he knew of a man who sold all sorts of sweets. And he was open in the middle of the night, too, which Ichigo nearly felt like kissing him for. Rukia got mean when she didn't get her cookies, and Ichigo didn't want to go through that again.

Darn food cravings.

Sighing, Ichigo concentrated on finding that blasted cookie so he could go back to bed.

Thirty minutes later, tired, cold and frustrated, Ichigo walked back inside the house, holding he prized cookies in his hands.

Only to find Rukia asleep, curled into a little ball on his side of the bed.

He shrugged and began munching on one of the cookies himself as he lay down beside her and pulled the blankets over the both of them. He then relaxed, sighing happily as he wrapped his arms around Rukia's small frame and let his hand rest on her slightly bulging stomach.

Only six months left.

* * *

The next morning, Ichigo woke to an empty bed. Well, except him of course.

He immediately went in search of Rukia, only to find her in the bathroom inspecting her stomach. There was no mirror, so she was having to make do with just staring at it from her position. He smiled and leaned up against the doorway. She took a few seconds to notice him, then asked,

"Ichigo, do I look fat?"

_What to do_? If he was truthful, and said yes, she would clobber him. If he said no, she would call him a liar and he would be forced to endure the pain of mood swings for the next hour. So, of course, he said,

"Yup. But I wouldn't have it any other way." Ichigo's smile grew as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on top of her stomach. Rukia smiled back, placing her small hands on top of his larger ones, gripping his fingers tightly.

"Ichigo, if I'm this fat at only three months along, what will I look like in six months?"

Now_ that _was a question he didn't have an answer to.

"It could be twins, you know," he observed, resting his chin on her head. Rukia looked up in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Well, twins runs in my family. It's a genetic thing in the living would. You're more likely to have twins as children if you have twins in your direct family. Yuzu and Karin are twins, sooo . . ."

Rukia still looked surprised. _She hadn't even thought of that!_ And Ichigo's having twins as sisters brought the chances up even more.

"You think so?" she asked, her eyes falling back to their entwined fingers

"Might be. Next time we see Unohana, we can ask her if there's any way to tell," Ichigo whispered, smiling into Rukia's hair. She turned around in his embrace and looked up at him.

"Ichigo?"

"Hm?"

"Where's my cookie?"

Ichigo laughed and pulled away from Rukia, walking back into their bedroom. He handed her the cookie and she sat down happily on the bed as she began chewing on it.

"Oh, Ichigo. Speaking of Unohana-San, she and Nii-Sama want us to meet them at the meeting point. I said we'd be there today around noon."

Ichigo looked at his watch, which didn't keep perfect time, and his eyes went wide.

"Rukia! It's already nine! It'll take us three and a half hours to get there!" Ichigo whined. Rukia just shrugged as she finished off her cookie. Standing to her feet, she grabbed Ichigo's hand and hauled him out of the house.

"Then we'll just have to go a little faster."

Ichigo groaned. Translated, that meant, "Carry me!"

And so he did.

* * *

Two hours, fifty-five minutes and three seconds later, Ichigo stopped at the meeting point. Rukia had fallen asleep on his back. She slept a lot lately; the baby was effecting her body worse because of the high spirit pressure. And hiding said spirit pressure was also draining her.

Ichigo poked her leg until she woke up.

"Off."

Rukia nodded and slid off of his back, landing on her bare feet on the soft grass. Ichigo dropped down onto the ground and leaned up against a tree. Rukia sat beside him, laying her head in his lap and resuming her nap.

"They're not here yet," Ichigo gasped, still trying to catch his breath.

He sat under the tree for nearly twenty minutes, shivering in the cold air, while he waited. He silently thanked Rukia for hauling him back to grab a blanket in case something like this happened as he wrapped the soft quilt around the sleeping girl.

He sighed and continued waiting. It was no more than five minutes later when he felt a familiar presence approaching from behind.

"You're late," Ichigo said, standing to his feet and turning to Captain Byakuya and Captain Unohana as they exited the woods.

"It took us a while to get out unseen," Unohana explained. Then, nodding toward Rukia, she asked, "How's Rukia doing?"

Ichigo scratched his head and looked up at the sky.

"She's sleeping a lot lately. And eating weird things. Last night she made me go fetch cookies," Ichigo explained. "Is that normal?"

Unohana smiled, nodding. She continued questioning Ichigo about Rukia's condition for nearly ten minutes before Rukia woke up.

"Hello, Nii-Sama," she said politely, standing quickly to her feet and giving a quick bow to her brother. She then turned to Unohana, giving her a quick smile before hugging her. The two woman had grown close over the last three months during Rukia's secret check-ups.

"How are you feeling?" Unohana asked, pulling away from the embrace and looking Rukia over.

"Pretty good, Unohana-San. I sleep a lot, though. It seems as though I'm always tired."

"That's pretty normal. And considering that the child you're carrying had special spirit pressure, it's not surprising."

"Ah, we have a question to ask," Ichigo broke in, scratching his head again. Rukia nodded and they both turned to Unohana.

"Yes?"

Ichigo suddenly took great interest in the surroundings of the meeting place. It was actually a very nice place; a clearing deep in the woods. The trees, now bare of leaves, were still thick. In the middle of the clearing sat a large rock. That was always how they found the right place. In the summer, the thick trees usually clouded out the sun, unless it was a very bright day. But now that they had no leaves, the sun was shining through clearly, reflecting off of the nearly frozen pond near the edges of the clearing.

Silence was usually heavy inside the clearing; there were no villages within twenty miles. That was why it took so long to travel to, even running. Ichigo could have used Shunpo to travel, but while he was carrying Rukia, he didn't like to. It usually gave her an upset stomach.

Finally, Rukia's voice broke Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"We were wondering if there was anyway to tell if I'm having twins," Rukia asked. Unohana looked slightly surprised.

"Why would you wonder that?"

"Well, she's quite fat for only three months," Ichigo said. The second the words were out of his mouth, he wished he hadn't said it. He barely ducked Rukia's elbow, and it caught him on the arm instead of the intended stomach.

"Hm . . ." Unohana looked thoughtful as Ichigo rubbed at his arm, pouting slightly. "Now that you mention it, it is a possibility. You do seem a lot further than three months; most mothers don't even start showing until this point. But your last check-up was a week ago, and you were showing pretty well then, too. But then again . . . mothers with small frames usually start showing about this soon . . ."

It was soon clear that Unohana was rambling.

"Sorry. Anyway, why would you think it's twins?"

"Well, my sisters are twins, and I have twin cousins . . . " Ichigo trailed off, shrugging. "Anyway, why are we meeting? You usually only check up on Rukia once every two weeks, not every week."

"We're moving you to a better location."

It was the first time Ichigo had heard Byakuya speak since he and Unohana had walked out of the woods.

"There was a report of criminal activity in the area lately," Byakuya continued.

"Nii-Sama, I think we'll be fine. I grew up in the seventy-eighth district," Rukia said, her eyes cast downward.

"No one is taking any measures to prevent this criminal, and he is a killer. He has murdered several people throughout the last few weeks. Captain Unohana and I would sleep better knowing you are in a more controlled environment," Byakuya insisted.

Rukia turned to Ichigo, and he could tell that she wanted to fight back. They had been moving around for the last two months that they had been in Soul Society, and he knew that she wanted to settle down.

"Rukia, I think he's right," Ichigo said, his face showing worry as he glanced at Rukia. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold, unforgiving November wind. Then, turning to Byakuya, Ichigo asked, "Where are we moving this time?"

"Wherever's safe."

* * *

Two hours later, after accompanying them through the worst part of the traveling, Byakuya reported that he would have to leave, and it would be up to Unohana to help Ichigo and Rukia the rest of the way. They were traveling to the thirty-second district; a fairly safe and calm village. They had been able to arrange with a small family there to take them in.

The family wasn't _really_ a family, as most people in the Soul Society weren't. It was a group consisting of an actual husband and wife, whom had been lucky enough to meet each other after death, and three children whom the couple had taken in soon after the kids entered the Soul Society.

Unohana said that she knew the details of the family because she had been the one to go and arrange Rukia and Ichigo's stay with them.

"The two little girls are Kaori and Aiko. They are five and seven. The little boy is four; his name is Diasuke," Unohana said, reaching out and knocking on the small door. Ichigo looked around the village. It consisted of several small houses in the area that they were in, and beyond that was a shopping square. Good thing it was close, just in case Rukia sent him out again to fetch cookies.

"Hello?"

Ichigo looked back to the door as the voice of a little girl broke into his thoughts.

Standing in the doorway was whom he guessed to be the younger girl, Kaori. She was barely taller than his knee with dark brown hair and shining emerald green eyes. She was smiling, showing off her missing teeth. Unohana smiled back at her.

"May I talk to your mother and father?"

The little girl nodded and, leaving the door wide open, skipped inside and soon came back with a young woman and man.

Unohana spoke again.

"Hello," she said, bowing to the couple. "I'm Unohana Retsu, and this is Ichigo and Rukia, the young couple I was telling you about."

Ichigo smiled as he watched the little girl hiding behind her mother. She _had_ to be the younger one; he couldn't imagine her being seven, she must have been five.

"Yes, of course. Ichigo, Rukia?"

Ichigo looked up as his name was called. The young woman was smiling at them.

"I'm Nichelle. This is my husband, Naoaki. Come on in."

Ichigo smiled and placed a hand on Rukia's back, gently leading her inside. Unohana followed; she still had a few things to go over with Rukia.

Once everyone was inside, Ichigo and Rukia were shown around the house in a hurry, because the market was closing soon, and Nichelle and Naoaki needed to go and grab a few things for dinner that night.

Ichigo looked around the room; it was small, with only a bed and a bedside dresser, but it was bigger than where they had been staying. Rukia immediately sat down on the bed, and Unohana and Ichigo could both tell that she was tired.

"I only have a few more things to go over, then I have to leave," Unohana said. Rukia nodded and listened as she went over different things which Rukia should and should not be doing. Ichigo listened, too, because he could tell that Rukia wasn't taking it all in; she was nearly sleeping.

Soon, Unohana was saying goodbye, and by the time Ichigo returned from seeing her off, Rukia was sleeping.

He sat and watched her until the small family came back. The little boy walked through the front door and broke out in a huge grin when he saw Ichigo. Ichigo smiled back, walking from his bedroom and out into the living room where the boy was standing. His dirt blond hair was a mess, and his bright blue eyes were shining happily.

"Mister? Will you pway with me?"

Ichigo smiled and nodded; he remembered what it was like only having two sisters and no brothers.

As the little boy took his hand and led him into an even smaller room, Ichigo spied the little stuffed animals and toys around the room.

He smiled.

This was going to be a _long_ six months.

Now, all he needed to ask was if they had cookies or not.

* * *

Well, that was longer than I expected it to be. So, what do you think?

**Please Review!**


	8. Calm Before The Storm

Just so people don't get mixed up, I am going to explain the children's ages and appearances.

**Aiko:  
**Age: 7  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Emerald Green

**Kaori:  
**Age: 5  
Eyes: Light Green  
Hair: Short brown - Shoulder length

**Diasuke:  
**Age: 4  
Eyes: Ice Blue  
Hair: Dirt Blond

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — VIII**

"No, Batman was the one with the mask. Superman is wearing tights and underwear with a big, long cape."

Rukia, who had just woken up, was walking through the small house when she heard Ichigo's voice. Curious, she had walked over to where the voice was coming from; a very small room beside the living room. She peeked inside to see Ichigo laying on the floor in what was apparently a boy's room. There was a little boy sitting on top of his bed, and as Rukia watched, he jumped down and fell into Ichigo's grasp, giggled, and jumped back up onto the bed again.

As the two talked about Superman and Batman, the little boy continued jumping off the bed as Ichigo caught him.

"Then who was Robin?" the little boy, Diasuke, asked.

"A bird? I don't know. All I remember about that movie was Batman. Never really watched it."

"Oh."

Both were silent for a second, and Rukia watched as the little boy jumped off the bed again and into Ichigo's arms.

"Who was Spider-man?"

"He's the guy who shoots webs out of his wrist."

Rukia was now very confused. Shaking her head, she walked away from the door and into the kitchen.

The two little girls, Aiko and Kaori, were sitting at the table, drawing on pieces of paper with broken crayons. They smiled and waved as she walked in, scooting over and letting her sit beside them.

"Wanna draw with us?" Aiko asked, handing Rukia a small, green crayon. Rukia nodded and began drawing a green bunny. She was just finishing up the ears when Diasuke and Ichigo walked in. Diasuke ran over and climbed up between his sisters and looked at what they were drawing. Ichigo, of course, commented on Rukia's drawing. Which earned him a glare; it would have been worse, but Rukia had made a 'no hitting' rule for around the kids.

"Is that spider-man?" Diasuke asked, pointing to Aiko's picture. Ichigo looked at the drawing; it was a cat.

"Um . . . nope."

Diasuke shrugged and stole one of the crayons as he began doodling on his Kaori's page. This started a fight. Ichigo stood back and watched them go at it. He knew that he should have stopped their fight, but watching them almost made him feel like they really were a family.

Before entering the Soul Society, the two girls had lived in Japan for all of their short lives, and Diasuke had lived in the United States with his mother and baby sister. Diasuke had told Ichigo that he had only been living with his mama and father for about six months, but he was happy because they let him call them mom and dad.

Nichelle and Naoaki had had to leave for the day to visit a friend, Sakura, who was sick, and had asked Ichigo and Rukia to watch the children.

The two couples had only known each other for about two weeks now, but everyone got along well. Ichigo and Diasuke were always talking about movies or other Earth things that Diasuke remembered, and Aiko and Kaori loved coloring with Rukia, because they liked to teach her how to draw certain things.

And she _actually_ learned.

"Hey, Diasuke, who was Superman?" Ichigo quizzed, if not to help the child remember, then to get him to stop fighting.

"Underwear!" Diasuke yelled, giggling. Ichigo smirked. Rukia frowned in disapproval.

"Ichigo, what have you two been talking about?"

"Movies! The ones I saw when I was little; Ichi-nii is helpin' me member 'em!" Diasuke said, smiling. Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, though I never saw most of them. I saw posters and heard people talking about them, soo . . ."

"Spider-man shoots webs out of his hands, and Superman wears underwear over his clothes!" Diasuke explained, smiling and illustrating by pretending to shoot webs out of his hands, and pulling up his underwear from his jeans. "And Batman wears a mask!"

Diasuke must have been hyper, because in the next few seconds, he had pulled his shirt over his head and was running around the room. Rukia rolled her eyes at Ichigo as Aiko leaned over and began showing her how to do bunny ears right.

"Hey, squirt, come on. Let's go play airplane," Ichigo said, picking Diasuke up by the underarms and walking him out of the room. Diasuke giggled the while way.

"Rukia-Chan?"

Rukia looked up into the bright green eyes of Kaori, who was grinning brightly.

"Hm?"

"Look what I drew!"

Rukia smiled at the picture of a puppy. It was light brown and had pink spots.

"He used to be my puppy back with mommy and daddy. His name was Keiko," Kaori explained, going back to drawing pink spots on the dog. Rukia smiled fondly. These two little girls were so happy, yet they remembered their real parents and their lives before.

She had got along a whole lot better in the Soul Society, because she hadn't remembered anything of her life before she came there. And Renji and the group had helped her along. She'd had friends; a family of sorts.

So did these little girls; they had a new mama and father, but they still remembered their real families. How could one replace a real mother and father so easily? How could three little children seal bonds such as these kids had, when they all remember their before lives?

How did they move on?

* * *

After forty minutes of playing airplane with Diasuke, Ichigo had confirmed his theory that kids _never_ ran out of energy. He finally put Diasuke down for a nap, promising the child that they would play more later. He then walked back into the kitchen where Rukia was now sitting alone. The girls had gone willingly to bed.

"Hey, how ya feeling?" Ichigo asked, sitting down beside her and smiling at the brown and pink puppy drawing that was sitting in front of Rukia.

"Fine. When are Nichelle and Naoaki going to be back? I like the kids, I really do, but they wear me out too easily," Rukia said, leaning her head on Ichigo's arm.

"I know it. Diasuke has totally worn me out. But I know where the little guy is coming from. I grew up only having sisters, too. It can be annoying when you want to blow things up, but they only want to play dolls."

Rukia laughed tiredly, and Ichigo stood up, helping her to her feet, too.

"Rukia, you should go get some rest."

Rukia shook her head.

"I'm not that tired," Rukia protested. "Besides, I sleep more than sixteen hours a day already."

Ichigo turned her around to face him, his face set in determination.

"Rukia, if you're tired, get some sleep. Don't push yourself. It's not good for you, and it's not good for the baby. You want a healthy baby, right?"

Rukia nodded, her eyes cast down to the ground.

"Then get some sleep. Everyone will still be here when you get up," Ichigo said, giving her a brief kiss before gently taking her by the shoulders and propelling her into their small bedroom. Rukia looked up at him and smiled a little, climbing into the bed and burrowing under the covers.

Ichigo smirked and walked out, turning off the light on his way.

He walked into the living room and looked around. It was a _mess_. If he left it like this for Nichelle and Naoaki to find, he would probably be in trouble. Sighing, he set to picking up the toys and papers that littered the room.

The living room wasn't all that big; a large couch leaning up against the right wall, and a small couch against the left one. The wall opposite to the front door was lined with three other doors; the girls room, Nichelle and Naoaki's room, and Diasuke's room. His and Rukia's room was right beside the couch.

He was just about finished in the kitchen, which he found to be just as messy, if not more, than the living room, when the door opened. He poked his head out from the kitchen to see Nichelle and Naoaki walk inside.

"Where are the kids?" Nichelle asked.

"Nap. I think we wore them out as much as they wore us out."

"What did you do all afternoon?" Naoaki asked, sitting down on the couch and taking his shoes. "And thanks for watching them. I don't think that doctor would have liked three kids running around while we were trying to visit Sakura."

"You're welcome. And Rukia drew with the girls for a few hours and I played with Diasuke," Ichigo said, smiling as he leaned up against the wall.

"Well, thank you again. Oh, and Ichigo, one of my workers quit today, and we need someone else to help work in the wood shop. Would you be willing to help?"

Naoaki worked in the local wood shop, which provided wooden products from chairs to chests to cribs. The workers made everything by hand, and those who couldn't help with the making put protective coverings on the wood before selling it.

Ichigo shrugged.

"Sure."

"Good. We'll leave tomorrow around eight."

* * *

The next day, Aiko, Kaori and Diasuke were helping Ichigo, Rukia and Nichelle in the kitchen. Ichigo had just barely returned from work at around four in the afternoon, and Nichelle had proposed that everyone make cookies. The kids, of course, had decided that they wanted to help.

And that was how they ended up where they were now.

In a flour fight.

Nichelle would have been angry at them if she hadn't been the one to start it, and if she wasn't currently playing a large part in it.

Ichigo was using Diasuke as a shield; Rukia was hiding behind the cookie pan, and the kids were just trying to get as messy as they could.

Nichelle was limiting the flour usage; she needed what they had left to make bread. The fight was about over, but Naoaki decided to walk in at that very moment and received a face full of flour.

He then put _everyone_ in time out. Ichigo, Rukia and Nichelle included. Then he was left to clean everything up.

By himself.

Sighing, Ichigo realized that there probably wouldn't be any cookies that night.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Naoaki poked his head in from the kitchen.

"Ichigo, would you get that?"

Ichigo nodded and stood to his feet, knocking some of the flour off of him as he walked to the door. He failed to realize, however, that he was utterly, completely covered, head to toe, in the white powder. And when he opened the door, the wind blew hard into him, making the flour cloud up around him.

Coughing hard, he walked further outside into the fresh air. When he turned around, he saw Unohana and Byakuya standing there.

"H-" Ichigo was cut off by another fit of coughing. "Hello, Unohana-San, Byakuya."

Byakuya frowned as Ichigo, again, spoke to him in the familiar. He then raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's appearance. He decided not to say anything when he got a look inside to see three kids sitting in a corner, throwing flour, that they picked off of themselves, and his sister, who was also occupying a corner.

"Come on in. It's a little messy right now. Um . . . something exploded in the kitchen?"

No one looked like they believed him.

"Ichi-nii!"

Ichigo tuned around to see Diasuke covered head to toe in flour. His eyes were closed tightly.

"I gots flour in ma eyes!"

Ichigo sighed and picked up Diasuke under the arms. Turning back to Byakuya and Unohana, he said quickly,

"Be right back."

And then he hauled Diasuke into the bathroom, quickly rinsing his eyes and stripping him down to his underwear, telling him to stay put while he grabbed some clean clothes. Ten minutes later, Diasuke ran into the living room, giggling, dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a sweater.

Ichigo found that Unohana and Rukia had retreated into another room to do their checkup.

The two little girls, now cleaned up by their mom, ran up to Ichigo.

"Where Rukia-Chan?" Aiko asked.

"She's busy. Why don't you go help you dad cleaning?"

The two girls nodded and ran into the kitchen, and Ichigo was left alone with Byakuya.

_Awkward . . ._

* * *

Well, how was that? I love writing little kids, so I decided to write a chapter about their new life around the three children. I don't know if people like these chapters just following their day-to-day life, soo . . .

**Please Review!**


	9. Love to Carry On

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

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* * *

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**­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­****Shadows In The Night — IX**

While Ichigo continued to be awkward around Byakuya, Unohana and Rukia began talking and going over the normal pregnancy stuff in the other room.

"How have you been feeling?" Unohana asked, smiling as Rukia sat down on her bed.

"Tired. The morning sickness has gone, though. I sleep about eighteen hours a day right now, and it sometimes makes me frustrated," Rukia said. "Aiko and Kaori are kind of tiring, but Ichigo keeps them busy when we have to babysit so I can sleep."

"Do you babysit a lot?" Unohana asked. Rukia nodded.

"Once or twice a week at least. Most times more. Ichigo keeps Diasuke, the little boy, busy all the time anyway, because he is a real energy drainer. He would have me sleeping in ten minutes. I don't know how Ichigo does it for hours on end."

Rukia continued, "Anyway, how are _you_ doing? I know it has to be hard for you to sneak out here twice a month, especially you and Nii-Sama at the same time," Rukia asked.

"I'm fine, personally. But it is hard to get out. Today we had help from Renji. He just woke up and we convinced him to run away so I could chase after him, as a doctor, and Captain Kuchiki could chase him, as his captain," Unohana explained, smiling. "Needless to say, since Renji has been in a coma for nearly two months, he was utterly confused, and the only way he agreed was we had to tell him everything when we came back."

Rukia nodded, smiling. So Renji had finally woken up. His injury had knocked him into a coma, along with some drugs that were supposed to help him heal, and he hadn't been conscious for nearly two months. Rukia and Ichigo were getting constant updates on his condition, but since he was fully healed, they were just waiting for him to make the final move in coming around.

"Did you tell him where you were going?" Rukia asked, standing to her feet and walking across to room to grab a glass of water that was on her nightstand.

"No. He doesn't know where we were going; because if he did, he would have wanted to come with us."

"Yeah, I guess so, huh?"

Unohana didn't reply; she knew that the question didn't need an answer.

"Back to you. How is the baby doing?"

"I can still feel it's spirit power, and it's growing each and every day, so it must be doing well. But Unohana-san, I don't think I can keep hiding it like this. It's getting too strong," Rukia admitted, sitting back down on the bed and folding her hands in her lap.

"I thought something like this would happen."

Rukia looked up.

"What?"

"The baby's spirit pressure; it's going to be too strong during the last few months of pregnancy. Much too strong for you to hide, and even if you could hide it, it would probably injure you to the point where you could never have children again," Unohana said, her face grim. "When the spirit pressure becomes too strong for you to handle, you will need to send an emergency message to me; I will come right away, no matter what."

"What will you do?"

The worry was clear on Rukia's face, and Unohana could tell that she was scared.

"We will have to do an early birth; I think the longest we will be able to hold it off will be six months into pregnancy, another three, in other words. No more, or it could injure you, as I said, to where you can never have children. Or . . ." Unohana trailed off.

"What?"

" . . . It could kill you."**­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­**

**

* * *

**

As the weeks slowly passed, it became harder and harder for Rukia to conceal the baby's spirit power. She was sleeping more than nineteen hours a day now, and she was even tired when she was awake. Unohana was now coming once a week, with or without Byakuya. She liked to have Ichigo accompany her back to the inside gates when Byakuya couldn't come, because she felt uncomfortable traveling alone.

But when Byakuya _did_ come, they stayed longer, and Unohana would visit with Rukia and give her more medication. Renji had even visited a few times, and though he was ashamed about what he had done, Ichigo and Rukia pretended like nothing had ever happened.

He had been forgiven and that was that.

The medication that Rukia was taking was to help give her strength. The baby's spirit power was growing each day, and it was working on her body like a virus that was slowly sapping her life away.

Finally, one day in her fifth month of pregnancy, Ichigo failed to wake her for her medication. She slept through most of the day now.

"Rukia?" Ichigo whispered again, shaking her gently. She didn't respond. Worried, he quickly pressed his fingers to her neck. Relieved to find a pulse, he quickly sat up and ran into the other room. "Nichelle, will you keep trying to wake Rukia?"

"Sure. What's wrong?" Nichelle could see the worry on his face as he quickly pulled on his coat, hat and shoes. He was about to run out of the door when he turned around and said,

"She's not waking up. I can't get any response out of her. I'm going to get help."

"Wait!"

But it was too late; Ichigo had already ran out of the house, using Shun-po to quickly run across the ground.

Nichelle ran into the young couples room and sat down on the bed beside Rukia, gently shaking her shoulder and whispering her name. There was no response.

"Please, Rukia . . ." Nichelle whispered, shaking her again. Still no response. Rukia was still breathing, but her face was a little pale and her pulse was slightly rapid.**­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­**

**

* * *

**

Ichigo quickly covered ground, and soon he was standing on the Kuchiki balcony. Knocking quickly, he silently prayed that it would be Byakuya who would open the door. As luck would have it, Rukia's older brother quickly pulled open the door and raised his eyebrows at Ichigo's being there.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Something's wrong. Where's Unohana?" Ichigo asked, breathing hard. He had just ran several miles, and though he had used Shun-po, it was still an energy draining run.

"Is Rukia OK?" Byakuya asked coming out onto the balcony. Then, he said, "Follow me."

Ichigo began running behind Byakuya. He didn't know where they were headed, but if it was to get help, he really didn't care.

"She won't wake up. It's been like this for the past few days, but not as bad. She could barely stay awake yesterday, and she was really pale and felt sick again, like she had during the first few months. I don't know what's wrong, but Unohana told me to keep and eye on her," Ichigo said quickly, not even sure that Byakuya had heard everything he said.

But Byakuya didn't respond; he just kept running.

Soon, they landed outside of a small hospital. Ichigo and Byakuya ran inside, and though Ichigo didn't know where he was going, he followed Byakuya, fully trusting the Captain for the first time in his life. If Rukia was in danger, it was most likely that Byakuya would be trustworthy.

Finally, they came so a small door and Byakuya knocked. Unohana came to the door within seconds and answered; Ichigo noted that she looked tired.

"What's wrong? _Ichigo_? Why are you here?"

Ichigo, still breathing hard, explained again what he had told Byakuya.

"We must go now."

And again they all set out running. Ichigo was tired, but he was worried, also. He wondered if Nichelle had been able to get Rukia awake. If not . . . he didn't want to think about it.

Finally, they arrived outside of the house. Ichigo quickly opened the door and ran into his bedroom again. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Rukia sitting up in bed. Her face was more pale that it had been in months and she was shivering, even though the heat was up high and she was wrapped in several blankets. Ichigo quickly walked over and sat down beside her, speaking to her in a low voice. After she stopped talking and laid her head on his shoulder, Ichigo turned to Byakuya and Unohana, who were standing in the doorway.

"She says that she's having trouble hiding the baby's spirit pressure."

"Then we have to deliver now," Unohana said, walking over and placing her hand on Rukia's forehead to find it hot.

"But she's only at five months! The baby will die," Ichigo said worriedly.

He had seen too many babies die at his father's clinic. Far too many. Most of the babies that had died were born too early of they were sick; but he knew that five months was way too early.

"The earliest I have ever delivered a baby was five and a half months. The baby was sick, but I was able to heal it and help develop its lungs," Unohana said, helping Rukia to lie back down. She took out a shot from the bag she had brought along and stuck it in Rukia's arm.

"Did the baby live?" Ichigo asked, and on second thought, he added, "And what was that?"

"That was something to help develop the baby's lungs. And the little girl did live."

"Is the drug something like those we have on Earth?"

"No, this is much more effective, but-"

She was cut off when Rukia spoke.

"Please, let me carry the baby a little longer," she whispered, still breathing heavily. I can start to develop its lungs and other organs with my healing power. Please . . ."

Ichigo glanced back at Unohana, his eyes full of worry. Byakuya was still standing in the doorway, but soon came over to sit beside his sister. She looked up and smiled at him for a second before closing her eyes again, breathing in sharply.

This didn't go unnoticed by Unohana.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"N-nothing."

"Rukia . . ." Byakuya said in a warning voice.

"It hurts . . ."

"Rukia . . . we can wait about another week for you, but the longer we wait the more chance we have of injuring you so you can never have kids. I won't be able to heal you once it goes past that point. I don't think we can wait anymore than a week," she said.

"What difference will it make? Any children Ichigo and I ever have will have the same high spirit pressure," Rukia said. "Please, let me carry the baby longer."

Unohana didn't respond, but she did notice that Rukia didn't even think that she might ever have children with a different man that Ichigo. Then, quietly, she asked, "Is the baby kicking yet?"

Rukia couldn't answer, so Ichigo said,

"Yeah. It started a few days ago. The baby was kicking while Rukia was taking her medication," he said.

"Good. That means that the baby is developed past the point at which I can probably help it mature before delivering. Also, Rukia, I know you wanted a normal birth . . . but I don't think we can."

"What?" she managed to ask.

"What do you mean? Like . . . A C-section?" Ichigo asked, looking up at Unohana.

"Something like that. We don't call it that here in the Soul Society, but it is basically the same thing. Instead of a normal birth, we will have to take the baby out by cutting into your stomach," Unohana explained.

"Why?"

"Because I don't think you have the strength to go through several hours of labor."

"What do we do now?" Ichigo asked, reaching out and taking Rukia's hand in his.

"I would like to take Rukia back with me and keep an eye on her, but I don't think we can do that, so . . ."

Unohana as cut off again as Byakuya spoke.

"I'll take her with me."

Everyone turned to him. Byakuya spoke again.

"She and Kurosaki will stay with me until the child is born."

* * *

Well, I hope you like it!

**Please Review!**


	10. Strength Of Three Thousand

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

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**Shadows In The Night — X**

"Ichigo, I'll be _fine_. Go, see your family. You'll only be gone for three hours. Nothing will happen in that time, and _if_ it does, I'll send Nii-Sama to get you," Rukia pushed, watching as Ichigo paced around the room.

Ichigo, who had asked only ten minutes ago if it would be OK to be gone for three hours while he explained what was happening with him and Rukia to his family, was now insisting that he shouldn't leave. He was worried Rukia would give birth in the time he was gone, and he said there was no way in Hell he was going to miss the birth of the baby. He had his reasons, and everyone knew, although they were unspoken.

He might never see the baby again after the birth.

"Rukia . . . Unohana only gave you two more days before she has to deliver. What if something goes wrong?" he asked, pausing his pacing to walk over to Rukia's bedside and sit down, taking her hand in his.

"Ichigo, _go_. I'll be fine."

"But Rukia . . ."

She growled and Ichigo sighed.

"OK. But I'll only be gone for _two_ hours. Rukia, if anything, and I mean _anything_ happens, call me. No waiting. I'll come right away," Ichigo said, standing to his feet. Rukia nodded as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking to the door to notify Unohana where he was going to be. Rukia smiled as she watched him walk out, her hand straying to her stomach.

The baby was moving again; which Unohana said was a very good sign.

After talking with Unohana for a few minutes, Ichigo turned and walked back into the room, sitting down beside Rukia.

"I'll be gone for about two hours. Unohana told me she would notify me if anything happened. Will you be OK?"

He was _sure_ she was going to hit him by the look on her face. But instead, she sighed and nodded.

"I'll be fine, Ichigo. Please, go see your family."

Ichigo nodded and walked over to the window, prepared to jump out, for they were not allowed to use the front doors of the mansion.

"OK. Rukia . . ."

Ichigo turned around, still perched on the window edge.

"Hm?" she asked, turning to face him.

" . . . Love you."

She smiled.

"I love you too, Ichigo."

He smiled and jumped out the window.

* * *

Ichigo took a deep breath before knocking on the door to his house. He could hear Yuzu and Karin inside; they must have just returned from school. Besides his sisters, he could hear his father talking to himself, loudly, from inside his office.

Ichigo took a deep breath as the door opened. His little sister, Yuzu, was standing there, shocked for a second before she hugged Ichigo, screeching loudly.

"Ichigo! You're home! Daddy wouldn't tell me where you went, just that you went with Rukia and she was going to have a baby. Oh, Ichigo, I'm _so_ glad you're home!"

"Hey, Yuzu. Can I talk to dad? This is very important," he said. He wanted to hug her and Karin and play with them for hours, but he had promised Rukia he would only be gone for a few.

"Sure! He's in here!" she said happily, skipping into the living room, her face glowing with happiness as she took his hand in hers as she hopped along. "Daddy! Ichigo's home!"

Ichigo was surprised when his dad didn't greet him with a kick to the face. Instead, he quietly asked Yuzu to leave them to talk, then took Ichigo into his office, which was further away from the rest of the house. He turned around, a completely serious look on his face. He looked more serious than he had ever been. He looked more serious than he had when Yuzu and Karin had been born, and more serious than when Karin broke her leg in third grade, and much more serious than he had when he had told Ichigo that Rukia was pregnant.

"Hello, dad," Ichigo said, smiling a small smile as he watched the emotions flickered over his father's face. Finally, he seemed to settle on happy and pulled Ichigo into a hug.

"Good to see you, son. How have you been?"

"Good. Um . . . I came here to tell you a few things and to see Yuzu and Karin. I can only be a few hours, though."

"How's Rukia? Bring her to visit," Isshin said, sitting down on the nearby chair.

"Uh . . yeah, about that. We're not exactly living close by. I'm not supposed to tell you this . . . but . . . can you keep secret?" Ichigo asked, knowing he was going to be in big trouble if his father told anyone what he was about to tell him.

"Ichigo, your mother and I kept our marriage a secret from her parents for about five months."

"Yeah . . . um . . . dad . . . I'm a-a . . . Shinigami," Ichigo said quickly, knowing his dad probably had no clue what he was talking about. And when he got back to the Soul Society, he was either going to be killed by Rukia, Byakuya, or someone else. But he was _definitely_ going to die.

"I know."

"Huh?" Ichigo said, the two words his dad had said not quite registering. He turned to face the older man, who was smirking.

"I know about Shinigami."

"Huh?! What!" Ichigo yelled, his eyes going wide and his mouth falling open.

"I've known you were a Shinigami for a long time now. Ever since that day that Rukia showed up, jumping through your bedroom window, I knew. I could see her, but pretended not to. A Shinigami's main defense is that people can't see them. I knew that, if a Shinigami was nearby, there was probably a Hollow, too. So I tried to get to Karin and Yuzu when it attacked, but I couldn't. I felt so helpless; like when your mother died."

"Dad . . ." Ichigo started, but stopped when Isshin started talking again.

"I've known about Shinigami for a long time now. I knew it was a Hollow that killed your mother, and I didn't interfere when Yuzu and Karin were attacked that day at Masaki's grave. Once they were safe, I knew that I had to let you fight. It was for your pride, and Rukia knew that, too. And Kon's annoying."

Ichigo laughed, despite his surprise.

"Dad . . . if you knew what it was that killed mom . . . how come you didn't go after it? How could you let it go?"

"I could have, but I would had to have left you and Karin and Yuzu alone all the time. You're my kids and I couldn't do that. Masaki wouldn't have wanted me to. She would have wanted me to raise you guys like I did. What do _you_ think she would have done if I left two four-year-olds and a nine-year-old alone to go fight because she had died? Nothing I could have done would have brought her back, no matter how much I wanted it to. So I needed to let her go and take care of her children. You three were the thing she treasured most. And I knew that," Isshin said, smiling sadly. Ichigo took a deep breath and dropped down into a chair.

Everything he had just learned had him in shock. He knew that he was going to feel it a lot more later, but right now he was numb to it.

"Dad, where's my body?" Ichigo asked, slightly worried. Then, he gasped. "Holy crap! Yuzu was able to see me and I wasn't in my body! And you can see me to! But that means . . ."

"I've been able to see ghosts and stuff for a while. We put Kon in your body-"

"Wait; we?" Ichigo interrupted, holding up a hand. Isshin sighed and continued,

"Me and Urahara. Anyway, as I was saying, we put Kon in your body and he is under close supervision at the Urahara shop. Ururu and Jinta are keeping him in line and not letting him do anything stupid like go have sex with a random girl. We thought that that would make you feel weird when you and Rukia -"

"Dad!" Ichigo yelled, his face going red as he ducked his eyes, trying not to meet his fathers. Isshin laughed..

"Come on, Ichigo. You have a baby; it's no secret that you and Rukia have been . . . _involved_ . . . for a while now."

Ichigo blushed deeper. Isshin stopped smiling and asked,

"Hey, Ichigo . . . where are you hiding? Because as far as I remember, having a child between a human and a Shinigami is illegal. And your being part Shinigami would make it worse," Isshin said.

"How do you know about that? And for the past five months we have been living in a few different districts of the Soul Society. Right now, we're living with her brother," Ichigo explained. Isshin nodded, deep in thought for a minutes before his face showed surprise.

"Her _brother_? Isn't her full name Kuchiki Rukia? Her brother is . . . Captain Kuchiki _Byakuya_?" Isshin asked, the disbelief clear on his face.

"How did you know?" Ichigo asked.

"God, it's a miracle that you're still walking after getting his sister pregnant. He's a cold, violent guy."

"Actually, after he found out, I wasn't really walking. His Vice-Captain, Renji, kinda . . . well, he nearly killed me. But not because Rukia was pregnant; just because they were sent after us after we started running away," Ichigo paused. "And why am I telling you all this?"

Isshin just smiled and stood to his feet.

"Dad, I like it when you're not acting like a total idiot. Remember that."

Isshin smiled as he opened the office door for Ichigo, who stood to his feet, too, and followed his dad out of the room. As soon as Ichigo walked into the living room, he was assaulted by Yuzu and Karin, who both enveloped him in large hugs.

"Yay! Ichi-nii is back!" Yuzu said happily. Then, she asked, "Where's Rukia?"

Ichigo smiled softly.

"She's not here," he said, sitting down on the floor beside his sisters. "And I can only stay for about twenty more minutes, OK?"

"What?" Yuzu said, her smile turning to a frown. "But I want you to stay! Everyone does!"

Ichigo was confused.

"Everyone?" he asked.

Yuzu nodded. "Inoue-san misses you, and so does Yasutora-kun. They come by every now and then and ask where you are and when you'll be back. They're sad, Ichigo. Please stay."

Ichigo smiled sadly. As much as he liked his friends, and _wanted_ to stay, he was going to be wherever Rukia and their baby was. He wouldn't leave Rukia's side; but maybe they could all come back together one day and Inoue and Chad could see the baby.

"I can't stay, Yuzu. I need to go back to Rukia."

Yuzu sighed and shrugged. She then looked up at Ichigo with sad eyes. "I understand. But will you _and_ Rukia-Chan come back soon? Please?"

"Maybe, Yuzu. Maybe."

She hugged him. Ichigo looked over Yuzu's shoulder to see Karin just sitting there, her eyes cast downward. He could see her crying.

She never cried.

"Karin . . ." he started, reaching over and lifting her head up with his hand. She looked into his eyes, quickly wiping her tears away. "I promise I'll come back sometime soon, OK? And I'll bring Rukia with me."

Karin nodded and Ichigo hugged her, too, pulling both of his sisters close to him. Pulling back, he smiled at them.

"Now-"

He suddenly stopped talking and frowned. Yuzu and Karin looked on, curious, as he stood to his feet and ran into his father's office, where said father was doing paperwork. _He knew that reiatsu . . . it _had_ to be Byakuya._

"Dad!"

Isshin jumped a few inches as he spun around in his chair, sending Ichigo a small glare. Ichigo ignored him.

"Byakuya's close! Something must be wrong with Rukia!"

Just as the words were out of his mouth, there was a frantic knock on the door. As Ichigo ran to answer it, he was glad that he had taught Byakuya to knock on doors; for the last time he was on Earth, looking for Rukia, he had knocked down the door. To both the front room and to Ichigo's bedroom. And he had found Rukia and Ichigo, both nearly naked, sleeping in the same bed.

_That_ had been awkward.

The first words out of Ichigo's mouth were, "What's wrong?"

And indeed, Byakuya was standing at the door, his usual look plastered to his unchanging face. Isshin appeared beside Ichigo and then slithered away again when he saw the Captain Shinigami.

"Rukia's having trouble; the baby has to come _now._ She sent me to get you; hurry," Byakuya replied.

Ichigo nodded, telling everyone that he had to go before running out of the house, Byakuya on his heels. The Captain opened the gate to Soul Society and Isshin watched as his only son dissappeared through the gate.

"If it's a boy, name him after me!" Isshin yelled to the closing gate, smiling.

His little boy wasn't a baby anymore.

* * *

Ichigo ran inside the small room, skidding to a halt beside Rukia's bed. She was breathing hard, wincing in pain as the contractions hit. He sat down beside her, taking her small hand in his and holding it tightly as he brushed back her sweaty hair. She smiled, then tried not to scream as another contraction wracked her body.

"Is she OK?" Ichigo asked Unohana, who was currently prepping her for the birth. Unohana nodded.

"She's fine now. We've decided to not even try a natural birth. Rukia is almost completely drained of energy from the contractions alone. There is no way she can make it," Unohana explained, closing her eyes as she gave the baby a quick blast of reiatsu to help mature its lungs just a little more before the birth.

"And the baby?" Ichigo asked quietly. Unohana nodded grimly.

"It should be fine. We were able to mature it enough so it can live and breathe outside the womb, but we didn't have the seven days we wanted; we only had four. But I'm hoping he will be fine. I can do a little more once it's born, but after that, it's all up to him," she explained, smiling sadly.

"Why do you keep calling it 'him'? Do you know?" Ichigo asked. Unohana shook her head.

"No. But I hate calling a living, breathing baby an 'it'."

Ichigo nodded, smiling down at Rukia. She looked up at him and smiled bravely back.

"How do you feel?" he asked her, running his fingers through her hair and kissing her on the forehead.

"F-fine," she responded.

Ichigo nodded and gripped her hand tighter.

"Captain Kuchiki, will you please hand me that scalpel?"

As Unohana said this, everything started happening at once. Since Rukia had already been given drugs, she was ready to give birth. Isane Kotetsu had been called in so she could attempt to heal Rukia and give her strength during the operation. Byakuya watched from the other side of the room, having stated that he was getting in the way. Ichigo was holding Rukia's hand and talking quietly with her as Unohana worked. She couldn't see anything that was going on, and couldn't feel it either, so Ichigo was telling her everything Unohana did.

"The baby's out! Isane, cut the cord!" Unohana yelled, holding the tiny baby in her hands. Ichigo could barely see it, for it was so small.

"How is my baby?" Rukia asked, trying to see the baby, but failing.

After the cord was cut, Unohana held the baby in one hand as she attempted to help it breathe. Finally, a tiny, quiet cry filled the room. Unohana smiled and sighed in relief. Then, she said,

"Congratulations. It's a boy."

Rukia smiled wide. Even though her movements and reactions were sluggish, she was trying to sit up. Isane gently pushed her back down, saying that she hadn't been stitched up yet and was still bleeding. Rukia nodded and turned to Ichigo, her eyes pleading with him. She said quietly,

"I want to see him, Ichigo, please . . ."

Ichigo nodded and stood up, walking over to where Isane and Unohana were cleaning up the baby. Byakuya walked over, too, and smiled at the tiny child.

"Can I bring him over so Rukia can see him?" Ichigo asked softly, reaching out to touch the baby's head. The little boy looked up at Ichigo in surprise and jerked his head away, curling his tiny hand into a fist and running it clumsily across his head, yawning. His eyes were a beautiful violet and his hair was bright orange with black streaks in it. Ichigo was surprised.

"Is that hair natural?" he asked, taking the baby into his arms as Unohana said he could do so. "And why is he so big? I've seen babies this old before . . . their tiny . . . and they never move around like this . . ." he said in wonder, smiling as the baby yawned again, kicking one of his feet out and hitting Ichigo in the chest.

Unohana smiled, too. Then said, "Most babies born at this point weigh roughly one pound and are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. But we were able to make him grow at five times the rate in this last week. Your baby weighs four and a half pounds and is eleven inches long. But it's strange that he's only four pounds. With Rukia maturing him as much as she did, he should be nearly six or so pounds. But it doesn't matter; he's healthy and _that's_ what matters."

Ichigo's smile grew as the baby in his arms began cooing. He walked over to Rukia and sat down beside her, leaning over so she could see the baby. Tears of happiness flowed down her face as she watched him.

"He's so beautiful . . ."

Ichigo didn't answer, he just took her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Michio. I want to name him Michio," Rukia said quietly. "It means: "Man with the strength of three thousand". Ichigo, can we name him Michio Renji Kurosaki?"

"Yeah. I'd like that," he said, reaching out his hand to touch Michio's tiny foot. His toes were smaller than Ichigo's own fingernails. Michio tried to pull his foot back as Ichigo touched it, squealing. Rukia laughed at the little sound, wiping her tears away as she reached out her own hand and brushed at his tiny head of orange-black hair. Unohana walked over and smiled down at the couple and the baby.

"He's small, but the maturing that we did mostly focused on his organs. So he's almost fully developed. That's why he's moving around so much and breathing fine. We do need to give him medical attention and special care for-"

Unohana was cut off as Rukia yelled out in pain.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Rukia just winced again, breathing hard.

"It feels like a c-contraction . . ." Rukia said, closing her eyes tightly.

"She _is_ contracting again! I think she's gonna have another baby, and if we don't preform the C-section soon, she might start pushing . . ." Isane said, a worried look on her face as Unohana flew over and took her place.

The next thirty minutes were hectic. Ichigo was confused, worried and happy at the same time; Rukia was nearly sleeping from the drugs she was given, but was fighting to stay awake, and Byakuya was hovering over everyone else's shoulders, trying to get a look at his second niece or nephew.

Finally, Unohana announced,

"Four pound, twelve inch baby girl. Congratulations."

Ichigo nearly fainted. He and Rukia had talked about the possiblity of it being twins because of her being so fat. And Ichigo had received several books to the head for such a comment. But he had never really, deeply thought about it.

But _two_ babies?

"Do you have a girl name picked out?" Unohana asked, a worried look on her face as she checked the smaller baby over.

"Yeah. A girl is all we really thought about because Rukia said she wanted to name it if it was a boy, soo . . ." Ichigo scratched his head, trying to shoulder Isane and Unohana out of the way so he could see his baby girl.

"Well . . . what are you going to call her?" Byakuya asked, truly interested, though he was trying to look as uninterested as possible.

"Raye Anyame," Ichigo answered just as Michio started to cry.

Ichigo rocked the baby back and forth in his arms, finally looking up at Unohana a few minutes later. "Um . . . I think he's hungry."

"Rukia's sleeping, so I'll show you how to feed him with a bottle in a few minutes, OK?"

Ichigo nodded.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Michio was sleeping quietly in a small, clear, plastic crib; much like the ones in Earth Hospital. His little sister, Raye, was sleeping quietly beside him, turning around in her sleep every now and then.

Ichigo watched them and smiled.

Unohana had explained that if Rukia ever had more kids, she would most likely carry to at least six or seven months. The only reason that she had been unable to carry longer was that it was twins; which meant twice the stress with the high spirit pressure. Ichigo was glad to hear it; because the pregnancy had been terribly hard on her, and he didn't want her to go through that again. Unohana had also explained that, though very small, the babies were perfectly formed and would be fine with close supervision and care. They would grow fast, too.

But he didn't care how small they were. As long as they were healthy, he was happy.

Raye, like her brother, had orange hair with black streaks. It was weird, but Unohana explained that it was completely natural. And while Michio's eyes were violet, Raye's were a bright, completely ice blue. Ichigo could watch them forever. They were simply _beautiful_.

As he was about to get up and go check on Rukia, Raye suddenly began crying. Ichigo walked over and picked her up, careful not to wake Michio, and held her close to him. She was _so_ small. As he rocked her back and forth, she quieted down and snuggled close to him, looking up at him with her ice blue eyes.

"Hey, Raye. I love you, you know that?" Ichigo said softly. She stopped crying almost immediately, snuggling closer to him and blinking tears out of her bright blue eyes.

Ichigo was busy trying to rock Raye back to sleep when he glanced over at Michio's crib. The tiny baby was laying still. _Too_ still.

Ichigo panicked as he watched and prayed for the small movement of the baby's chest.

It didn't come.

Michio wasn't breathing.

* * *

Well, what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Hate **me**? Don't you just love cliffhangers? LOL! Anyway, I mixed Ichigo and Rukia's hair colors because I thought it would be cool!

**4,000 words **total, this chapter was! _(Is using Yoda speak)_

**Please Review!**


	11. The Touch Of a Healer

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — XI**

Ichigo panicked.

Quickly setting Raye down, he picked up Michio in his arms and ran out of the room at top speed, the tiny baby in his arms not moving.

"Unohana! Help!" Ichigo skidded to a halt beside Rukia's room, where Unohana was currently residing. "Michio's not breathing!"

Unohana quickly took the baby from Ichigo, gently setting him down and frantically checking him over to make sure Ichigo was right.

He was.

"Isane!" she yelled.

The younger woman soon entered the room, too, running over to Unohana's side. The older woman whispered something to her, and Isane nodded, running out of the room. Ichigo hadn't noticed until seconds before, but Byakuya was there as well, now worriedly standing beside Unohana and his nephew.

"Where did Isane go?" Ichigo asked, trying to elbow Byakuya out of the way so he could see his son.

"She needs to go hide Raye's spirit power; you were doing it until a second ago, but you left," Unohana said, pressing two small fingers to the baby's chest as she began CPR.

"Is Michio gonna be OK?" Ichigo asked worriedly, fighting the tears that threatened his vision. Unohana didn't answer as she continued to work on the tiny boy.

"Everyone out! I need room!" Unohana yelled, turning to Byakuya and Ichigo. "Please, wait outside."

Byakuya had to forcefully haul Ichigo out of the room. Once they were standing outside, Ichigo collapsed to the ground, dropping his head into his hands. Byakuya simply stood by the door that had been slammed in their faces by a frantic Unohana.

Byakuya was watching Ichigo carefully, wondering what he should do. His thoughts, however, were cut off by a sudden rush of reiatsu. It had come from Ichigo.

"Kurosaki! Concentrate on hiding your reiatsu!" Byakuya growled. There was no move from Ichigo, but the blast was gone. Byakuya breathed a sigh of relief and hoped desperately that no one had noticed it. But Central 49 had everyone keeping a close eye out for foreign reiatsu, so it was very possible that someone _had_ recognized it.

Just then, Isane appeared beside them, holding Raye in her arms. The baby was awake, and crying very loudly. Ichigo looked up at the small cry and held out his arms.

Isane passed him the baby and smiled when Raye went totally silent once she was being held in Ichigo's arms.

Everyone waited for information from Unohana, but none came for ten minutes. Soon, ten turned into twenty and then twenty into forty.

Then, she came out of the room, a grim look on her face. Ichigo jumped to his feet and ran over to her, still clasping Raye in his arms.

"Is he OK?" he asked worriedly, trying to see past her into the small room that the baby was in.

Unohana shook her head.

"He's breathing now, but he's very sick, I'm sad to say. I don't know what it is, but he nearly died twice and stopped breathing many, many times," she reported, letting Ichigo inside.

He ran over to where the baby lay on the small make-shift bed that Unohana had laid out for him. He was sleeping again. The only movement he made was the slow, shaky rise and fall of his chest. Ichigo reached out and gently placed a hand on the baby's chest. Michio jerked away from his hand, turning around onto his stomach.

Ichigo smiled a little, turning to Unohana.

"Why can't you just heal him?" he asked.

Unohana sighed.

"Well, I could try again, but I already did. There are several sicknesses that I cannot heal, and I believe this is one of them. I would, however, like to keep him away from Raye, as I don't want her getting sick, too," Unohana said, wincing as Raye reached out her hand to touch Michio. She was spreading out her tiny fingers out on his back.

As she did this, Unohana frowned. Ichigo noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just . . Raye . . ."

"What's wrong with Raye?" Ichigo asked, worry clouding his features as Unohana took the baby from him. Raye began screaming and thrashing around, trying to get back to Ichigo.

"Nothing. It's just . . . she's acting much older than a premature baby. She's a lot stronger than Michio was, and she seems very lively . . ."

Unohana trailed off again and haded Raye back to Ichigo.

As Ichigo continued asking what Unohana meant, Ray reached a hand down back to Michio's back and placed her hand on his soft skin.

Ichigo stopped talking to Unohana the second he saw the bright, blinding white light flowing into the room. Raye didn't make a move as she continued to touch Michio. The white light continued to grow, and everyone was nearly thrown off balance as the unbearable amount of spirit pressure filled the room.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

"What the hell was _that_?" Ichigo asked, holding Raye close to him as she began to cry. Rukia, who was sleeping the influence of drugs, had awoken from the spirit pressure.

Unohana didn't answer Ichigo's question as she ran over to Michio.

"I think . . ."

Quickly, she began checking Michio over, only to find him completely healthy.

"She healed him. My God, she healed him . . . That must be why she's so strong. God, she healed herself, too!"

Ichigo gaped.

"But you said even _you_ couldn't heal him! How the hell did Raye . . . "

"Ichigo . . ."

Ichigo turned around as he heard Rukia's voice. She was trying to sit up in her bed, working around the tubes and IV's hooked to her. Ichigo walked over and gently pushed her back down, not wanting her to sit up.

"Rukia, please, stay down."

"Ichigo . . . what's happening?" Rukia asked, both worry and exhaustion clear in her voice.

"Michio was sick . . . Raye healed him."

"I want to see my baby girl," Rukia said, trying to get a look at the baby in Ichigo's arms. She hadn't seen Raye after her birth, because the drugs had completely knocked her out.

Ichigo nodded and laid the tiny baby in Rukia's arms.

"She's beautiful . . ."

"Kurosaki, come with me. Raye's healing alerted everyone to our presence. They know you're here. Help me hold them off. Captain Unohana, please bring Rukia and the children to a safe place," Byakuya said, taking out his Zanpaktou. Ichigo followed, casting a worried glance back at everyone before pulling out his own Zanpaktou and running out the door, close on Byakuya's heels.

As they ran through the halls, Ichigo, too, noticed that several new reiatsu's had joined those of the people that were usually milling around the house.

Among them, he could feel Hitsugaya, Renji and Hinamori. He didn't recognize any of the others, but he was sure that the massive reiatsu belonged to Kenpachi and the smaller one close by the first was that pink-haired little brat that Ichigo could never remember the name of.

"What's gonna happen?" Ichigo asked, stopping beside Byakuya as they reached the door of the house.

"I do not know," Byakuya replied simply, which served to irritate Ichigo even more.

"Well, who all is coming?"

"I do not know that either. But in the confusion you let your reiatsu slip, also, so they know you are in Soul Society. And in saving Michio, Unohana was unable to hide Rukia's reiatsu so they know she is here, too."

"Aw, crap."

Byakuya just nodded.

Soon, Ichigo could feel the reiatsu's coming closer. There were a lot of them; he was sure of that.

"Where will Unohana be taking Rukia and the babies for safety?" Ichigo asked, gripping the handle of his Zanpaktou harder, his knuckles going white.

"She will take them into the human world where Urahara-kun and Yoruichi-san will help hide their Reiatsu until we can solve this problem."

Ichigo nodded again, taking a deep breath as the door suddenly flew open.

* * *

Rukia felt helpless as they ran. Unohana was nearly carrying her, as she could barely walk. Isane was holding the babies in her arms and was doing her best not to rattle them. But it was hard, as she was having to hold two children at one time.

Turning a corner, Unohana stopped in her tracks, surprised to see Renji standing before them.

"Renji . . ."

No one spoke for a few minutes, and finally Renji said, quietly, "Follow me."

Unohana nodded and then said,

"Renji, will you please take Rukia? She cannot walk after giving birth, and I do not think it is a good idea for Isane to be holding both children."

Renji was surprised as he lifted Rukia into his arms.

"Huh? _Both_?"

Rukia smiled up at him and nodded.

"Twins. Michio Renji and Raye Anyame Kurosaki," she said happily. Renji was surprised.

"You named him after me?" he asked in a whisper.

Rukia nodded.

"You're my best friend, Renji. And I wanted to honor that."

"Yeah . . ." Renji sighed in acceptance. _Best friend_ . . . that was all he would ever be to her, but if that was all, that was enough.

No one spoke for the longest time. They just ran. At one point, they entered the underground sewage tunnels and altered their path. Raye began crying, and Isane was trying desperately to calm the baby down, but it wasn't working. Rukia said tiredly that she probably wanted Ichigo, as he seemed to be the only one that could calm her down.

As she said such, Renji could feel the familiar tug of pain at his heart, but he ignored it and continued running, his grip on Rukia tight and secure.

"I'm so tired . . ." she said, leaning her head against Renji's chest and sighing deeply. He smiled and held her closer.

"Get some sleep then, Rukia."

She nodded and smiled, slowly drifting off to sleep, but the cry of Raye keeping her at the edge of the peace she yearned to much for. She said,

"Try holding her gently against your chest and rubbing her back. That was what Ichigo was doing."

Isane nodded and tried the suggestion. The baby stopped crying and gripped Isane's shirt loosely in her tiny hand, yawning loudly. Isane smiled at her.

"She really is beautiful."

Rukia just smiled and let the darkness wash over her, wishing that the drugs that Unohana had given her weren't making her so damn sleepy. She wanted to stay awake with Michio and Raye and Renji. But she couldn't keep her eyes open, and the darkness freed her from the pain in her stomach where a few of the stitches had ripped out.

So, instead of fighting against it, she welcomed the darkness, letting it completely consume her.

* * *

Sorry it took so long to get out.

**Please Review!**


	12. Something Different

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

* * *

**Shadows In The Night — XII**

The door flew open.

"They're here."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell Byakuya something along the lines of 'Duh, I can _see_ that' but he knew that it wouldn't help the situation any. As he eyed the people standing in the doorway, he could name all four of the Shinigami. Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Kenpachi and Ikkaku; and he was _sure_ that little, annoying pinkie had to be hiding_ somewhere_.

They all stopped when they saw Ichigo and Byakuya standing there in the room, their Zanpaktou's drawn. Hitsugaya leaned over and whispered something to Hinamori and she nodded, grabbing Yachiru's hand from behind Kenpachi, and they ran off together. Ichigo knew where they were going; they were heading after Rukia and the others.

Now, only Kenpachi and Hitsugaya were left.

And of course, the bigger, crazier, and probably stronger one just _had _to attack Ichigo.

"Finally! I can fight you again!" Kenpachi yelled, a wild look in his eyes as he plunged his Zanpaktou down to Ichigo's form.

Ichigo grunted under the strain of holding back Kenpachi's Zanpaktou with his own. Summoning all his human strength, he pushed off the Zanpaktou and jumped back several spaces to allow him room to counter Kenpachi's next attack, which came within seconds. As he quickly averted his eyes from Kenpachi, he could see that Byakuya had already began his fight with Hitsugaya, and the younger man had been forced to go into initial release already.

_Good._ Ichigo thought. _That means he can help me with this maniac sooner. _

"Why can't you just leave me and my family alone?" Ichigo yelled, blocking yet another attack and trying to get one of his own in.

"I don't care about your little family, I just want to fight!"

He should have thought it was something like that.

"Damn!" Ichigo cursed as he was thrown against the wall as the overwhelming force of Kenpachi's reiatsu hit against him. His head made contact with the stone and he felt dizzy as he stood to his feet, his Zanpaktou clashing against Kenpachi's once again.

As he looked around quickly, he saw that the roof sat low; if he held his Zanpaktou over his head, it would get stuck in the ceiling. Smirking, he yelled to Byakuya,

"Hey! Watch out and cover your head!"

Byakuya glanced at him for a second, too caught up in fighting with Hitsugaya, who had yet to release his ban-kai, to pay him much attention.

"Getsuga tenshō!" Ichigo yelled, pointing his Zanpaktou toward the roof as he let loose. The red and black shot that fired from his Zanpaktou took the normal form of the crescent moon as it hit the roof, showering the room and everyone in it with large pieces of wood as the whole top portion of the building crumbled into pieces.

Byakuya was going to kill him later for doing that to his mansion, but hey, a guy needed space.

"Sōten ni zase!" Hitsugaya yelled, taking advantage of the situation. The large flow of reiatsu exploded out of his blade, turning into Ice in the form of the Chinese Dragon. It rushed at Byakuya, who was still partially blinded from the dust.

As Ichigo turned his attention back to Kenpachi just in time to avoid being hit, he swore he heard a long line of curse words coming from the older Kuchiki. He highly doubted that the noble was injured, but he was probably pissed at Ichigo for giving Hitsugaya the opening he was looking for.

"Hey, freakshow!" Ichigo yelled loudly in attempt to grab Kenpachi's attention. "Would ya please just leave us alone?"

Kenpachi didn't answer and Ichigo shrugged, and, having the room he needed to swing his Zanpaktou around freely, aimed it at Kenpachi, letting out another shot. The crescent moon exploded and knocked Kenpachi backward a little, giving Ichigo the chance to move in and hit Zangetsu against Kenpachi.

His attack was easily blocked and Ichigo was flung against the wall again, hitting hard. Blood began to trickle down his forehead as he reached a hand up to find that there was a large gash right above his eye.

_That was what he felt . . . _

Ichigo breathed deeply.

_The smell of blood was assulting his senses . . . the feel of pain . . . the feeling of anger . . ._

"Kurosaki! Concentrate!"

Ichigo ignored Byakuya as he jumped to his feet, wiping blood out of his eye as he ran after Kenpachi.

_He knew he was being reckless . . ._

His Zanpaktou made contact with Kenpachi's with a loud clash and at least a few sparks.

If he kept being reckless, he was going to have to bring out his ban-kai a lot before he expected. He didn't want to . . . he could do it without needing Zangetsu's help. He could beat this crazy, fight-loving freak.

Couldn't he?

As Ichigo was about to attack Kenpachi again, he felt a hand on his neck. The back of his shirt was gabbed roughly and he was pulled forward to face Byakuya.

"Kurosaki, dammit! Concentrate! You need to concentrate! Do not let anger get the better of you, because you sure as hell aren't leaving my niece and nephew without a father before they even speak! Hear me? _Concentrate!_"

It was the most emotion that Ichigo had ever seen Byakuya show.

Taking a deep breath in as Byakuya let go of his Shinigami robes, Ichigo half-concentrated as Hitsugaya attacked Byakuya; the smaller of the two having just brought out his ban-kai. Ichigo could tell because the temperature in the room had just dropped several degrees.

He couldn't leave Raye and Michio without a father . . . he had to concentrate on fighting.

Forcing everything out of his head except for thoughts of his fight, Ichigo yelled,

"Tensa Zangetsu!"

As a light wind surrounded him, his large Zanpaktou compressed. Smirking, Ichigo put both hands tightly on the hilt of his Zanpaktou and began running. Kenpachi was lost as Ichigo moved faster than they eye could comprehend. He saw his opening . . . he had to take it . . .

* * *

It was light outside as Renj stepped from the secret cave entrance that led from the sewer system to the outside of Seireitei. He looked around, his eyes closing as he breathed in deeply. He hadn't been outside the gates in a month, and it was nice to be in the open air again.

But his happiness was short lived as he suddenly picked up a large blast of Ichigo's reiatsu.

Frowning, he turned to Unohana and Isane, who were both holding one of the babies.

"I can open the gate, but not with Rukia in my arms."

As he spoke, he motioned to the sleeping girl. Unohana nodded and placed Raye, who was sleeping quietly in her arms, down on the soft grass. Isane bent down beside the baby and lightly pressed her hand to the small girl's chest to keep her from rolling around in the dirt as Unohana took Rukia from Renji.

Now free to move around, Renji told everyone to step back while he opened the gate.

Raye's small, ice blue eyes opened just as the gate did. She turned her gaze to look up at Isane, who smiled down gently at her.

Then, she started crying.

Her small wails woke Rukia and Unohana let her sit down on the grass and pick up the baby. Renji had successfully opened the gate as he walked over to the small group. He smiled as he watched Rukia with the baby, then turned to Unohana and whispered,

"We have to go. I can sense the reiatsu of two Shinigami. Probably Hinamori and Yachiru. Please, we have to go _now_."

Unohana nodded and leaned down, gently touching Rukia's shoulder. She whispered something and Rukia nodded, standing shakily to her feet. Raye, who was still in her arms, blinked tears out of her bright blue eyes as Renji guided them both through the gate, helping Rukia along with the hell butterfly.

When they arrived on the other side, Rukia collapsed and Renji just barely caught her and Raye. Yoruichi was at his side in less than a second, helping move Rukia and Raye up to the main part of the building. When they arrived, Renji saw something that surprised him greatly.

"Mr. Kurosaki?" he asked, his mouth dropping open.

There, sitting in the middle of the living room, _drinking tea_ with Urahara, was Isshin Kurosaki.

Both men jumped at least three inches. Urahara spilled his tea on himself and Isshin turned around so quickly that Renji was surirpsed his head was still connected to his body.

"Who are you and how do you know my name . . . and is that _Rukia_?!" Isshin yelled, jumping from his seat and running to Yoruichi, who still held the unconscious Rukia in her arms. Just as he was about to ask another question, he caught sight of Unohana and Isane coming up from the entrance to the underground training room. And, in Isane's arms, he saw Michio.

"Is that my grandkid? Why the hell was he born so soon? Now, I'll admit that, while I _am_ a doctor, I don't deliver too many babies, but I know for a _fact _that a baby that young cannot love outside the womb. Why is he alive? Why is he so big? A baby at that age should be about an inch tall and weigh only a pound!"

Unohana looked at him, and, realizing who he was, said,

"While all of those things are true, we were able to help him mature inside the womb before he was born. This is Michio Renji. He was born early because his reiatsu combined with Raye's was hurting Rukia. You're Isshin, right?"

Isshin nodded numbly.

He walked over and smiled down at the sleeping baby.

"He's so small . . ."

Renji smirked.

"Ya think he's small? You should see his sister. Oh, by the way, Rukia had twins."

Isshin fainted.

* * *

Ichigo was breathing deeply as Byakuya helped him lean up against the wall. Hitsugaya was in worse condition, having taken a direct from Senbonzakura, but Byakuya had been careful not to kill him or injure him worse than he could heal easily from with the right treatment. Kenpachi had been taken away by the little pink haired girl before he and Ichigo had finished fighting because she could see that there was no way Ken-chan could win when Ichigo went into ban-kai mode.

Although, admittedly, he was taken kicking and screaming. The little girl had stuck something in his arm, and Ichigo had been sure it was some kind of drug because he had slumped over and let pinkie carry him off.

"Are you alright?" Byakuya asked, leaning Ichigo's head back onto the wall.

Ichigo nodded and winced, gasping and trying not to breathe. He was sure he had broken several ribs, and they hurt like fire. The gash on his head was still bleeding badly, and he had a large cut on his stomach, extending from his waist up to his chest.

"You should . . . have seen him. T-this is nothing, compared to h-him . . . " Ichigo gasped, a smirk on his face, grimacing again as he took another breath in.

Byakuya looked around the room as he helped Ichigo to his feet.

"We must get through the gate. I will alert help for Captain Hitsugaya right as we leave. Can you walk?"

Ichigo nodded, putting on foot in front of the other as Byakuya helped him out of the door of the mansion. It would have been a strange sight if you saw it; Ichigo was leaning on Byakuya for support, the worse off of the two. Byakuya barely had a scratch on him compaired to Ichigo.

"Prepare yourself. I am going to use Shunpo."

Within seconds they were at the same, grassy cliff as Renji and the others had left from. After quickly opening the gate, Byakuya helped Ichigo through.

The effects of travel caught Ichigo off-guard, and as he tumbled out on the other side, he threw up as he fell to the floor, wincing in pain from his ribs and stomach.

Yoruichi was in the training room beside the gate, waiting for them when they came through. She ran over to Ichigo and immediately placed her hands over his chest, closing her eyes as she healed the gash on his stomach and his ribs. Within seconds she was done and she helped Byakuya carry Ichigo up the ladder to the main room.

Not a word was passed between the two as they walked.

Ichigo was on the edge of consciousness, but he felt better as his body was healed slightly.

"Captain Kuchiki, please, come here and help me," Unohana said. She was holding Raye in her arms and was trying to conceal the baby's reiatsu by smothering it in her own and hiding both at the same time. Isane was trying to do the same thing with Michio, but she was failing.

Byakuya calmly took Michio from Isane and held the tiny boy in his arms as he concentrated on hiding the reiatsu.

Urahara, who hadn't spoke a word sine Rukia, Renji and Raye had first appeared through the gate, watched as Ichigo was laid on the floor beside Rukia. Isshin was still slumped over the couch, not being paid any attention by anyone because he was healthy; he was just an idiot.

Unohana and Byakuya were working on setting their reiatsu to where it would conceal the babies power without them having to constantly concentrate, and Yoruichi was trying to heal Ichigo and Rukia further.

Renji was just standing in the corner, watching it all pass before his eyes.

Urahara blinked a few times and said,

"Woah. Good _grief_. Well, _that's_ something different!"

* * *

Huh. Well, personally, I don't think I did a very god job with that. But, hey, whatever. What did YOU think? _(Pokes reviewer)_ Please send your thoughts? Good or bad, I don't care. I just want to know what people think!_(Pokes readers who **don't **review)_ Please?

**Please Review!**


	13. Change Of Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

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**Shadows In The Night — XIII**

"She really looks like you, you know," Rukia said, looking down at the baby in her arms. Ichigo smiled as he watched the sleeping baby. Both children had been given a small, red bracelet that would hide their reiatsu; one of Urahara's inventions. And, as they were shown them, Byakuya took one and slapped it on Ichigo's wrist. Rukia had started laughing, and Isshin was still in la-la land.

"Nah, no really," Ichigo said.

"She has your personality for sure," Rukia said, reaching out to run her hand through Raye soft, fuzzy hair. Ichigo smiled and kissed Rukia gently on the lips before standing to his feet and walking over to the other side of the room to take Michio from Urahara and Yoruichi, the latter of whom had been entertaining him as a cat while Urahara held him. Michio apparently like fuzzy, black animals, as he was quiet while Yoruichi purred gently.

"He's a cutie. He's a lot quieter than Raye, though," Yoruichi said, turning back into her human form. She dropped down beside Urahara as Ichigo thanked them for watching Michio and walked back over to Rukia, who was abut to fall asleep again.

"Hey, Rukia, get some rest. They'll still be here tomorrow."

Rukia nodded and lay down on her bed, Raye by her side. The small baby was still sleeping.

After watching them both until Rukia fell to sleep, Ichigo walked out into the main part of the shop where Unohana, Isane, Byakuya and Renji were at.

"How's my dad?"

Renji laughed.

"He should be awake shortly. But then again, he hit his head pretty hard. I think learning that his grandkid was born three and a half months early, and learning that he had _two_ grandkids knocked him for a loop. He's gone."

Ichigo nodded and sat down by the others, careful not to jar Michio.

"How is she?" Unohana asked. "Rukia, I mean. She seems very tired."

Ichigo sighed and scratched his orange head. After shrugging, he said, "Well, she does seem tired, but it's to be expected; she only gave birth like . . . a day ago. Give her some slack. Besides, she's sleeping now . . . and can one of you _please_ take this darn thing off my hand?" Ichigo said, growling as he lifted his hand to his face to chew on the band around his wrist.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"No. You cannot control your reiatsu when you're feeling strong emotion. And I _will not_ have you giving off our position. Abarai and I worked hard this afternoon to lead them on a false path, and you will not ruin that, understand?"

Ichigo mumbled something under his breath before giving up on chewing on the band and settled into a pouting position with the baby still in his arms. Michio, picking up on Ichigo's mood, began screaming loudly. Ichigo groaned and quickly checked the baby's diaper, only to find it clean. After ruling out uncomfortable, in pain and tired, he figured that Michio was hungry.

"Damn. Gotta wake Rukia."

Ichigo sighed and stood to his feet and walked into the back room again. Unohana looked around the table and said,

"Twenty says Ichigo loses his mind before the kids can walk."

"I see you and raise you thirty," Renji said, shaking his head.

"I bet one hundred he makes it through," Byakuya said, ignoring them both as he sipped his tea.

* * *

"Sorry, Rukia," Ichigo said quietly, letting Rukia lean back against him as she pulled her shirt up a little to allow Michio to feed. Ichigo reached behind them and grabbed the baby blanket that Urahara had supplied from his shop. He placed it over Rukia and Michio.

"It's OK, Ichigo. I'll get used to it," Rukia said, yawning a little. Ichigo nodded and placed his chin on top of her head as he watched Michio.

"Ya know, when my dad first told me you were pregnant, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it, and I couldn't believe that it was happening to us. I mean . . . I'd heard lots of stories of young teens having children, and my dad must have warned me a million times about safe sex . . . but when I found out you were pregnant . . . it was like . . . I dunno. Unbelievable, I guess. But when you were so devastated about it, and I didn't know why, I thought that maybe you didn't want the baby and you wanted an abortion. And although I'd only known about the baby for a few minutes, I felt as though my whole world was crumbling down. I'd seen my dad deliver babies before, and I'd seen a few die, and I had seen the pain that the parents had gone through when they lost a child, and for those few seconds before you told me what was wrong . . . I felt as though I would be going through that pain."

"Ichigo . . ." Rukia began slowly.

Ichigo smiled, then placed his fingers gently over her lips. He whispered, "Let me finish."

Rukia fell silent and Ichigo began speaking again.

"Even though I'd never seen the babies, I knew that I loved them, and that I would do anything, _anything_, to protect you and them. All throughout those six months, I was in an ongoing battle with myself. I know that this experience has changed me _so_ much. Before, I was always sad and was constantly reminded of my mother and what she did . . . how she died for me. But now that I have Michio and Raye . . . I know that I would give my life for them, just as my mom gave her life for me. And not that I'm saying that it _will_ happen, but if it _does_, please, don't let them grow up like I did. I want them to be happy. I want the to grow up happy and without the weight I felt on my shoulders all those years."

Rukia just nodded and buried her head in his chest after she had finished feeding Michio. Ichigo wrapped his arms around both her and the baby, careful not to hurt Raye, who was sleeping beside them.

"You've changed my life, Rukia. For better and for worse. You gave me a family, and I know how my mom felt. I'd do anything for you guys. Anything."

Rukia smiled and breathed in deeply, her eyes fluttering closed as she fell back to sleep. Michio was sleeping, too, and Ichigo gently set both him and Rukia down on the make-shift bed that had been laid out for them.

He then stood to his feet, and was about to walk out of the room when suddenly, his dad ran into the room, yelling something about wanting to see his grandkids.

This woke Raye.

After picking up the baby so she wouldn't wake Rukia and Michio, Ichigo grabbed his dad by his collar and hauled him out of the room, stopping to hand Raye to Byakuya. Before he had time to haul his dad outside into the cold air, Renji spoke up.

"Ah, sorry, Ichigo. Forgot to warn ya he was awake."

Ichigo kicked Renji in the back before he finished hauling his dad outside.

"Dad, Rukia was sleeping; what were you thinking, busting in there?" Ichigo said, glaring at his dad, but all in all, happy to see him awake. Isshin pouted, then his face grew serious. He ignored Ichigo's question.

"So, twins, huh?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah."

"So . . . why didn't you name him after me?"

Ichigo laughed.

"Yeah . . . as if! I'd be cursing the little boy if I did that! No, really, dad . . . I didn't think of it. But I probably wouldn't have named him after you even if I had. 'Cause really . . . I want unique names for my babies. How are Yuzu and Karin doing?"

"Ah . . . as well as can be expected."

Then, Isshin went back into silly mode and suddenly tears began flowing down his face in rivers as he grabbed onto the hem of Ichigo's shirt and wept into it.

"Yuzu has a boyfriend!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Well, duh, old man. She's fourteen, of course she'll have a boyfriend by now!" Ichigo said, pulling his shirt out of Isshin's grip.

"_You_ didn't have a girlfriend when you were fourteen!" Isshin yelled, standing to his feet.

"Yeah, well I doubt Yuzu will have two babies when she's eighteen! Leave her alone, old man!" Ichigo said, smirking as his dad fell to the ground, his head in his hands as he agonized over Yuzu's boyfriend. Who, come to think of it, was he? Shrugging, Ichigo walked back inside, leaving his dad on the ground.

He would come back in eventually.

Maybe.

Or not.

Sighing, he dropped down beside everyone else in the room and took Raye back from Byakuya, as the small child was crying.

"Hey, hush little one. No more waking mommy, alright?" he said quietly, smiling as she stopped crying. Instead, she just stared up at him with wide, blue eyes. Ichigo spoke again. "That's daddy's good little girl."

Raye yawned loudly and kicked her feet back and forth before turning her tiny head to the side and closing her eyes. Ichigo brushed her soft hair down with his hand before looking up to see everyone staring at him.

"Huh? What?"

"Nothin'," Renji said, shaking his head.

"No, what?"

"Well . . . do you even realize how much you've changed since, ya know, Rukia got pregnant?"

"Uh . . . no?"

"Wow. You really _are _dumb. Well, before everything, you were just a scowling, better-than-you carrot-top. Now, you _smile_," Renji said, stretching out the last word.

"Yeah, so? I smiled before."

"You smirked and you smiled evil smiles, but beyond that, nothing!"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Byakuya.

"Is he, by any chance, drunk?"

Byakuya shrugged.

"Possibly. He had something to drink this morning. Might be the effects of that, because he normally isn't like this."

Ichigo sighed again, watching as Renji continued talking. He smiled a little as he watched Isane sipping happily into her cup and Unohana rolling her eyes at whatever Renji was talking about; Ichigo wasn't quite sure. Byakuya was just looking bored, sipping his tea, and soon, Urahara and Yoruichi joined them.

Life was good . . . but, as Yoruichi broke out the coffee instead of tea, life was suddenly overrated as he attacked her for coffee; he hadn't slept in days.

* * *

Rukia woke in the middle of the night to find Ichigo sleeping next to her. Michio and Raye were sleeping in a make-shirt crib about three feet from their bed, and Ichigo was holding her tightly to him. She smiled and rested her head on his chest.

Then, Michio started crying.

Sighing, Rukia untangled herself from Ichigo and walked over to his crib, reaching inside and picking him up. Raye turned over onto her stomach as she did this, and Rukia bit her lip until she was sure that her little girl would stay sleeping.

"You're awake?"

Rukia turned around fast to see Isshin standing in the doorway. Nodding, she grabbed the baby blanket from under Ichigo's head, having to jerk it out, and, holding Michio tightly in her arms, walked out of the room, following Isshin.

They walked into the main shop room and Rukia sat down, putting the blanket over her before beginning to feed Michio. Isshin turned his gaze away, and Rukia smiled, glad for his consideration. Neither spoke for a second, then Isshin muttered,

"Thank you, Rukia-chan."

"What for, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked, wincing as she shifted Michio in her arms.

"For changing Ichigo. He's a different man now."

Rukia didn't respond, so Isshin finished speaking.

"Just about _everyone_ has said this today; Ichigo, Renji and a few of the others, and I feel like you're probably tired of hearing it, but Ichigo has changed a lot. Having you in his life made him a better person, and I want to thank you."

Rukia shook her head, a sad smile on her face.

"No, Kurosaki-kun, I didn't change him. He changed himself. And me. He changed me . . ."

* * *

Well, whatcha think? I know this was probably an extremely boring chapter, but what the heck? Things are drawing to a close and I have to have a boring chapter in there somewhere, don't I?

Anyway, I hope you liked it! _(Crosses fingers)_

**Please Review!**


	14. A New Path Taken

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing! Some things might be AU!

**

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Shadows In The Night — XIV

Ichigo wrapped his fingers around his coffee cup tightly and breathed in deeply, smiling.

"I love coffee," he said, drowning the whole cup in about three gulps then wincing as the hot liquid slid down his throat.

Around the table, Ichigo and Renji were the only ones sitting. Everyone else had gone to bed, but Ichigo had been awakened only ten minutes ago to a screaming Raye, and, intent on letting Rukia sleep before the babies' next feeding, he had gotten up quickly and rocked the little girl until she had fallen back to sleep. Renji had woken up when Ichigo was running around, looking for the diapers, and had smashed his foot on the wall. He had let out an impressive stream of unknown cuss words, too.

Sighing, Renji put down his cup.

"Hmm?" Ichigo asked, turning to the red-head as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

"I . . . Well, I guess I never really said sorry, did I?"

"Sorry? What for?" Ichigo asked, slowly sipping his coffee this time. Renji sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"For almost killing you, ya know? I guess . . . "

"You loved her," Ichigo said, looking up, a ghost of a smile on his face. "And . . . once, a long time ago, she told me that she loved you, too. But she moved on. And you have to, too."

"She loved me?" Renji mumbled, his eyes downcast as his hands grasped his cup so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Yeah. But you waited to long. If you had told her years ago, maybe, just maybe, today, she would still love you. But a girl can't wait forever, man," Ichigo said, sipping on his coffee again as he watched the emotions flicker over Renji's face.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. And I'll heal in time. And . . . Ichigo? I really am sorry. Today while I was watching you play with Raye and Michio, I kept thinking: I almost took that away from them. A father. What if I had actually done it? I've lost family, and if I had been the cause for your babies to lose their father, I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life. Ya know . . . when I came to Soul Society, I was about seven. My father had died a few weeks before that in a freak accident, and those weeks were the worst of my life. If I had done that to your kids . . . " he paused and looked up at Ichigo. "I'm really sorry, man. And store this away, because it's the first and _only_ time I'll ever utter those words to you, understand?"

Ichigo let his smile fall as he watched Renji.

"Thanks."

"I just can't believe I was too stupid to tell what was staring me in the face all those years. I wonder, if I had told her how I felt . . . if things would be different now."

"Yeah, probably. But . . . " Ichigo smiled again, attempting to loosen some of the tension between them. "Ya snooze ya loose."

Renji glared at Ichigo and elbowed him in the arm. Ichigo promptly whined, and fell back on the floor, making a show out of it; he blamed it on the four cups of coffee he had drunk. Then, what he said next surprised Renji.

"Am I in trouble?"

But he soon found out that the question wasn't directed at him as he he turned his gaze to Ichigo, only to see him staring up into the strict face of Rukia, who had her arms crossed over her chest. Renji stopped smiling.

"Ichigo, why didn't you wake me?" she said.

"'Cause I thought you could use the sleep."

"No more thinking for you! Don't tire yourself out because I _am_ going to need help with the babies later today. And . . . gimmie coffee."

Ichigo smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

She took his, anyway, and let him drink the newly poured cup. Renji shook his head, raising his eyebrows at them.

Rukia sighed and looked over at Ichigo. She said, "We're in this together, Ichigo. If you need help with Raye or Michio, just wake me. I won't get mad."

Ichigo scratched his head, his brown eyes looking anywhere but at Rukia.

"Yeah, I know. But you've been so tired lately from your hard pregnancy, and I thought-"

"I said no more thinking."

Ichigo growled and rolled his eyes, but said eyes went wide when Rukia laid down and placed her head in his lap, yawning loudly.

Ichigo smiled and looked back up, only to find that Renji had left the room while he was arguing with Rukia. Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and ran his fingers gently through Rukia's raven hair while she smiled, almost asleep.

"Love ya," Ichigo muttered as she curled into a ball beside him. He swore he heard her say something, but he couldn't make it out.

* * *

"So, how _exactly _are we going to get them to stop chasing us 'round like idiots?" Ichigo asked, frowning as Michio, who was laying in his arms, began fussing.

Urahara was sitting beside him, smiling.

"We don't. Don't have to. We can avoid a large scale argument that could be dangerous to your family if you let me implant a small chip under each of the babies skin; you and Rukia can control your power, so there would be no need to do the same to you."

"Wait, wait," Ichigo said, closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath. He opened his eyes again and stared at Urahara, who was, once again, hiding his face under his hat. "You want me to agree to let you implant a small chip under each of my children's skin?" he asked, his lips pressed tightly together when he stopped talking.

"I assure you it's completely harmless. It is like the bands we are currently using. But instead of it being in plain view, I would make a small incision on the babies' arms, right below their wrists," Urahara explained, showing Ichigo a small portion of skin about half an inch below his own wrist. "The chip is tiny; as small as an eye contact. It will hide the babies reiatsu easily, but when they grow older the chip would have to be replaced by a bigger one. But it really is harmless. They might have a tiny scar, but unless you want to put your family at risk by trying to fight Soul Society, I see no other alternative."

"Look . . . I just want what's best for my kids. Will this hurt them?"

"No, I shouldn't think so."

"Think?" Ichigo asked, running his hand absentmindedly over Michio's soft hair.

"I know it won't hurt them."

"Have you talked to Rukia about this?" Ichigo asked, sighing deeply and running a hand through his own hair.

"Not yet. I thought I would let you decide what you wanted done, and let you talk to her."

"Thanks, I guess. Let me go do that; I'll tell you what we decide later, OK?"

Urahara nodded and Ichigo stood up, holding Michio gently in his arms as he walked out of the room to where Rukia was sitting alone in the bedroom that they had been given. She was holding Raye in her arms and softly singing to her. Ichigo let a smile form on his lips as he walked over and sat down beside her.

He began explaining to her what Urahara had said, and they spoke about it in low tones. Finally, Ichigo stood to his feet after laying the now-sleeping Michio down on the bed. He walked out of the room, shoving his hands into his pockets as he sat down beside Urahara, and now, Unohana.

"OK. You can do it. But we both want to be there with Raye and Michio . . . if it would be OK with you." Then, turning to Unohana, Ichigo said, "Could you be there, too?"

She nodded.

"We should get right on it, then," Urahara said. "Kuchiki, Abarai and the others have to get back to Soul Society soon and you and your family should be finding a place to stay."

Ichigo nodded again and stood up, walking into the bedroom. He came out with Rukia almost five minutes later, each holding one of the babies.

"I hope, for your sake, that this goes right," Ichigo said to Urahara, gently handing Michio to him as they walked into the small, dark room where the implants would be put in. Ichigo could see the worry on Rukia's face as she bit her lip, trying to see over Urahara's shoulder as he took Michio from Ichigo and gently laid the small child down on the soft, cushioned table. Icihgo leaned over and put his arms around her, letting her lay her head on his chest as she watched Urahara give Michio a drug that would knock him out until the end of the procedure.

"You don't have to watch," Ichigo murmered, running his hands though her hair as she winced and felt tears prickle at her eyes as she watched the blade cut into Michio's skin and the small droplets of blood that came out.

"I have to," she muttered not able to rip her eyes away from Michio.

"I know you like proving you're just as strong as all of us, Rukia, but please, you don't have to prove anything. He's our son, and you don't have to be strong. You don't have to watch; I'll be your eyes and your ears. And then, together, if something happens, we can go to him."

Rukia nodded and buried her head in Ichigo's chest.

She wanted to be strong for Michio, but after everything that had happened in the last few months, if Ichigo was offering his shoulder to cry on or his arms to hide in, what was wrong with going to him?

Ichigo watched, unblinking, as Urahara finished up. It was quick and finished within five minutes. Once the small chip was placed in Michio's arm, the cut was sewn up with two simple stitches and a thin wrapping put around it. And as he started on Raye, Rukia found the courage to watch, and turned around in Ichigo's arms, leaning her back up against his chest as she held his hand tight.

"There. All done. I told you it wouldn't hurt them," Urahara said, smiling as Rukia walked over and gently fingered the small wrappings on the babies' wrists.

"Are they . . . are they OK? Can I hold them?" she asked, her free hand still grasping Ichigo's. Urahara nodded, and Unohana handed Raye, whom she had been holding, to Rukia.

Urahara reached over and took the bands off from the babies wrists, and Unohana immediately went in search of the reiatsu Urahara was so sure she wouldn't be able to find.

She confirmed such only minutes later, and everyone left the room, Rukia fussing over the cuts on Raye and Michio's wrists. Ichigo rolled his eyes, smiling, as he watched her.

* * *

An hour later, Rukia, Ichigo, Urahara, Yourichi and Isshin were waiting at the gate, saying good-bye to Renji, Byakuya, Isane and Unohana.

"Hey, are you guys gonna get in trouble for helpin' us?" Ichigo asked, shifting Raye in his arms as she began to wake up. Byakuya walked up to him and shook his head.

"We should be fine. No one but our friends saw us helping you, and they should remain faithful to us. And Kurosaki . . . " Byakuya trailed off as Ichigo looked at him, his eyes intense and serious. "Take care of Rukia. And your family. Family is a precious thing that shouldn't be wasted. Make the most of your time with them, because time can disappear in an instant."

Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah. I know."

"Good-bye."

"Yup, bye."

Renji said good-bye to them all quickly, giving Rukia a hug, before disappearing through the gate behind Byakuya. Soon, everyone was through and the gate shut down, leaving them all alone in their thoughts until Isshin busted in, saying,

"Well . . . Ichigo, Rukia-chan, where do you plan on staying? Because you could always stay at the clinic. There will always be enough room for you."

"Thanks dad," Ichigo said, but then shook his head. "But no thanks. I think . . . I think we need to find a place of our own, right Rukia?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. So we can start our new life."

* * *

Three months later, Michio and Raye were beginning to sleep through the night.

They had just finished moving into a small, three bedroom house. It _was_ small, but it was beautiful. In the city, but on the outskirts so they were the only ones around for about a mile. There were trees and beautiful flowers in the yard, and the walkway up to the door was made of stone. The entrance to the small house was round at the front, giving it a cottage look, and it was comfortable inside. Rukia had gone wild decorating; the nursery was done in wild pinks and purples in one half, and oranges and blues on the other side. Raye's clothes, crib, dresser and rug were all bright, blinding girl colors while Michio stuff was darker, but still cute. The colors contrasted, but all in all, Ichigo thought it was perfect.

Ichigo and Rukia's bedroom had been done in a simple off-white, creamy color for the walls, and the carpet was so soft that your feet sunk several inches into it when you walked barefoot. A single, queen sized bed stood in one corner of the room with a bedside table next to it, and on the other side of the room was the closet and the dresser.

The kitchen was the only thing that Ichigo had really done by himself. He had painted it a sky, creamy blue color and the tile on the floor looked like actual wood.

And, as a month and a half ago, in a small church with a small guests list, Rukia had become Mrs. Rukia Kurosaki.

Right now, both babies were sleeping, and Ichigo and Rukia were watching them, content smiles on their faces.

"I'm glad we did it," Rukia said, fingering the tiny scar on Raye's wrist.

"Hm?" Ichigo asked, breathing out onto her soft neck. She shivered when his hot breath made contact with her skin.

"For Michio and Raye. I'm glad we went ahead with the implants. They can live normally now."

Ichigo nodded and held her tighter around the waist.

"Yeah. I know."

"Hey, Ichigo?"

"Hm?"

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Yeah, I am."

A new page opened in life, and a new path taken. Where they would go from here, they woudn't know until they got there. But, perhaps, Ichigo thought as he watched the shadows from outside dance across the walls, they would become more than just a simple shadow in the night.

**THE END**

* * *

Were you happy with it? Yes? No? Don't . . . get _any_ closer to me with that knife . . .

**Please Review!**

**_AUTHORS NOTES: _**

GUESS WHAT? I made asequel! _(Squeaks loudly)_ I hope everyone will read it! The name of the sequel to **Shadows in the Night** is **Whispers in Your Heart** -- pleasse drop by my profile.

_**—P.S. If you liked this story, go vote for it in the poll on my profile page!—**_


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